Hetch Hetchy's restoration, after all, will benefit national . The waterfall on the Tuolumne is now submerged under Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. The Hetch Hetchy Reservoir itself store 85% of the City's overall drinking water supply, the remaining 15% is stored in the system's 5 other reservoirs. [28][29] About 1853, his brother, Joseph Screech (credited in some accounts for the original discovery of the valley)[27] blazed the first trail from Big Oak Flat, a mining camp near present-day Lake Don Pedro,[30] for 38mi (61km) northeast to Hetch Hetchy Valley. Dam the Hetch Hetchy! And in a larger sense, the waters of California served as the converting agents. Plus, they needed a way to bring supplies and workers into the mountains. The upcountry portion of the System begins with Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park. The battle for Hetch Hetchy wasnt just conservationists vs preservationists. The new 68-mile (109 km) railroad wound its way up the narrow canyon of the Tuolumne River past sharp curves and up steep 4% grades. The bustling metropolis of Los Angeles could not have become the city it did without the water which flowed from the Owens Valley hundreds of miles away. Back in the early nineteen hundreds, when the debate start about The Hetch Hetchy dam being built a large majority of people did not realize or care how valuable nature is. Would that be an improvement? During summer, people of the Miwok and Paiute came to Hetch Hetchy from the Central Valley in the west and the Great Basin in the east. [79] Some observers, such as Carl Pope (director of the Sierra Club), stated that Hodel had political motives[80] in proposing the study. [70] Hodel called for a study of the effect of tearing down the dam. The second concept is preservation. This time, in favor of those who wanted to build the dam. By 1908, a different Interior Secretary, James R. Garfield, sided with the utilitarian conservationists and issued a permit for the Hetch Hetchy project. Instead, it was a more complicated battle which pitted public interests against private interests. Bierstadt described the valley as "smaller than the more famous valley but it presents many of the same features in his scenery and is quite as beautiful. They acknowledge that a concerted effort would have to be made to control the introduction of wildlife and tourism back into the valley in order to prevent destabilization of the ecosystem,[68] and that it might be decades or even centuries before the valley could be returned to natural conditions. Formerly called Buck Meadows Restaurant and Bar, the new caf crosses rustic-mountain flair with roadside cafe friendliness. On December 19, 1913, Congress passed and President Wilson signed the Raker Act which permitted the building of the OShaughnessy Dam and the flooding of the Hetch Hethcy Valley in Yosemite National Park. Without Hetch Hetchy as its primary reservoir, San Francisco will be forced to pump and filter its water for the first time in a century, and lose out on the 726 million kilowatt-hours produced by . [66] In 2015, Restore Hetch Hetchy filed a complaint arguing that the construction of the dam had violated a provision in the constitution of California about water use, but the lawsuit was rejected by an appeals court and later the California State Supreme Court. If you love that insider feeling of discovering an often-overlooked gem, plan a stop at Buck Meadows on your way to or from Hetch Hetchy. [citation needed], The Hetch Hetchy Valley began as a V-shaped river canyon cut out by the ancestral Tuolumne River. In 1913, Woodrow Wilson appointed Lane his Secretary of the Interior. The extensive amount of storage, which is designed to benefit the Bay Area as droughts become more severe with climate. This fight set the stage for future battles between those who believed natural resources were to be used for the greatest good versus those who believed natural resources were to be preserved for the greatest enjoyment. Hetch Hetchy water serves residents in four Bay Area counties, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Southern Alameda. Richard Ballinger was a conservative who was one of the main characters who was responsible for the progressive-conservative split in the GOP in 1912 (leading to the creation of the Bull Moose party), which is the factor that determined the GOP would be on the right side of the political spectrum (and therefore ensuring the Democrats would be on the left side of the spectrum). a strong proponent of restoring Hetch Hetchy Valley and Senator Feinstein is still[when?] For instance, the WET company helps people see the beauty of water through magnificent water fountains. Building a dam there was off the table. After 2.5 miles (4.0 km), youll reach the Wapama Falls Bridge with an up-close view of the lowest section of Wapama Falls. Her poetic descriptions of Hetch hetchy won her the attention of powerful members of Congress. There, he met the same Indian chief and his wives. In Yosemite National Park, the Hetch Hetchy reservoir relies on the annual snowmelt to stay full. In November 2012, San Francisco voters soundly rejected Proposition F,[86] which would have required the city to conduct an $8 million study on how the flooded valley could be drained and restored to its former state. Appreciate what nature created and what the city built there long ago. As well dam for . [74] A 2019 study commissioned by Restore Hetch Hetchy argued that draining the reservoir and equipping the valley with a tourism infrastructure comparable to that of Yosemite Valley (which receives around 100 times as many visitors annually as Hetch Hetchy's 44,000) could result in a "recreational value" of up to $178 million per year, or possibly an overall economic value of up to $100 billion. Hetch Hetchy is an iconic, rare and spectacular landscape, Hetch Hetchy is part of Yosemite National Park and its damming and flooding is by far the worst destruction of our national parks have ever experienced Restoration would not only make Yosemite whole once again it would inspire people that we don't need to live with mistakes of the past" Pinchot was recognized as a leader of the conservation movement. The deciding factor was whether or not the land in question had access to water. In the 19th century, the first white visitors to the valley did not realize that Hetch Hetchy's extensive meadows were the product of millennia of management by Native Americans; instead they believed "the valley was purely a product of ancient geological forces (or divine intervention) this was fundamental to its allure as a destination and subject. Not far from there, youll find more budget-minded lodging at Buck Meadows Lodge. If youre up for a driving adventure, try taking a little extra time to retrace parts of the route John Muir described in his book, My First Summer in the Sierra. The pressure that Muir and his compatriots generated in 1908 and 1909 did not dissuade the administration from its support of the Hetch Hetchy dam, but this pressure was quite effective in the realm of electoral politics. Expect delicious meals and hearty portions to fuel your adventure or beat that post-hiking hunger. One route begins six miles beyond the entrance station. Photo: Kim Lawson. The Hetch Hetchy watershed, an area located in Yosemite National Park, is the major source of water for all of San Francisco's water needs. The Hetch Hetchy Reservoir created by the dam has a capacity of 360,400acreft (0.4445km3), with a maximum area of 1,972 acres (798ha) and a maximum depth of 306 feet (93m). [2], Wapama Falls, at 1,080ft (330m), and Tueeulala Falls, at 840ft (260m) both among the tallest waterfalls in North America are both located in Hetch Hetchy Valley. [39], Interest in using the valley as a water source or reservoir dates back as far as the 1850s, when the Tuolumne Valley Water Company proposed developing water storage there for irrigation. The Hetch Hetchy Dam in the Yosemite Valley, receives the bulk of it's water from the sierra snow pack miles above the reservoir. If the nation set aside some natural places as especially sacred, how far beyond their borders should a sense of the sacred extend? It is only a cut in the hills through which the Tuolumne River runs, but if you think there might be a valley keep looking and if you find such a place I will give it to you., Nate went on looking for the valley. [67], Preservation groups including the Sierra Club and Restore Hetch Hetchy state that draining Hetch Hetchy would open the valley back up to recreation, a right that should be provided to the American people because the reservoir is within the legal boundaries of a national park. "[85] However, she does support breaching the dam once it has reached the end of its lifespan, and not replacing it. Instead, the magnificence of a valley often described as Yosemite Valleys slightly smaller twin takes center stage. [64] Peter Byrne of SF Weekly has stated that "the plain language of the Raker Act itself and experts who are familiar with the act (and have no stake in city politics) all agree: The city of San Francisco is not in violation of the Raker Act. Smith Peak (7,751 feet) is the highest point in the area and offers outstanding views. They were both initially carved by rivers flowing down the Sierras relatively gentle western slope. "[83], Opponents of dam removal have pointed out that the flooding of the Hetch Hetchy Valley has also deterred the crowds that overrun other areas of Yosemite National Park. And today there is even an organization, Restore Hetch Hetchy, which is committed to doing just that. 2023 Yosemite Mariposa County Tourism Bureau, Yosemite Itineraries: What to Do in Yosemite. [57] Pipelines 3 and 4 end at the Pulgas Water Temple, a small park that contains classical architectural elements which celebrate the water delivery. [8], Meadow plants unavailable in the lowlands were particularly valuable resources to these tribes. Forests might provide for the material well-being of human beings, but they did not exist for this reason alone. RELATED: A Woman Started The Environmental Movement (Can It Continue?). Could you imagine building a dam inside a national park today? [31] Its meadows provided abundant feed for "thousands of head of sheep and cattle that entered lean and lank in the spring, but left rolling fat and hardly able to negotiate the precipitous and difficult defiles out of the mountains in the fall. Those who presumed to speak for wealth, much of which flowed to San Francisco, believed they were transforming a pioneer land into a settled, civilized one. If youre excited about a long hike or backpacking trip, you can continue to Laurel Lake for a 14.2-mile (22.9 km) out and back. [54][55], After passing through the powerhouses, Hetch Hetchy water flows into the 167mi (269km) Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct which travels across the Central Valley. But the ultra-liberal President Woodrow Wilson signed off in 1913 on the multi-decade construction of a series of dams within Yosemite National Park that flooded Hetch Hetchy Valley to create a massive reservoir, hydroelectric plants, and a 167-mile aqueduct for the sole benefit of the City of San Francisco. "[32], In 1867, Charles F. Hoffman of the California Geological Survey conducted the first survey of the valley. The Poopenaut Trail begins at a signed trailhead four miles past the entrance station. Muir and other defenders of Hetch Hetchy believe the fight revolved around two central issues. [14] At maximum extent, Tioga Glacier may have been 60mi (97km) long and up to 4,000ft (1,200m) thick, filling Hetch Hetchy Valley to the brim and spilling over the sides, carving out the present rugged plateau country to the north and southwest. [85] [citation needed] The George W. Bush administration proposed allocating $7 million to studying the removal of the dam in the 2007 National Park Service budget. OShaughnessy Dam and the waterworks that connect it to the Bay Area are a marvel of engineering. The surface of the water hides an additional 300 feet of granite cliffs and once-upon-a-time waterfalls within its depths. As a 13.4-mile (21.4 km) round-trip hike, Rancheria Falls gets fewer day-hikers than Wapama Falls but is a popular backpacking stop. Due to large cataracts on the Tuolumne River upstream, Hetch Hetchy Valley may have been in the uppermost range for native rainbow trout in the river. While the debate goes on, Hetch Hetchy remains a relaxing and often-overlooked corner of the park much to the delight of hikers and backpackers who prefer less touristy experiences. Many examples of red-barked manzanita can be seen along the Hetch Hetchy Road. Not only does it supply 85 percent of the water for 2.6 million people in San Francisco, controlled releases via the O'Shaughnessy Dam are helping preserve downstream specieseven in dry years. Youll just need to see them for yourself. [73] Furthermore, the removal of O'Shaughnessy Dam would not require costly sediment control measures, as would be typical on most dam removal projects, because of the high quality of the Tuolumne River water in the first 90 years since its construction, only around 2in (5.1cm) of sediment had been deposited in Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, much less than most other dams. Franklin Lane served as the attorney for the city of San Francisco in 1903. In 1967 the Robert C. Kirkwood Powerhouse started commercial operation followed by a New Moccasin Powerhouse in 1969 when the Old Moccasin Powerhouse was taken out of service. [40] By the 1880s, San Francisco was looking to Hetch Hetchy water as a fix for its outdated and unreliable water system. [8], While its cousin Yosemite Valley to the south had permanent Miwok settlements,[25] Hetch Hetchy was only seasonally inhabited. [71], The dam would not have to be completely removed; rather, it would only be necessary to cut a hole through the base in order to drain the water and restore natural flows of the Tuolumne River. Photo: Kim Lawson. Bierstadts paintings and Muirs writings began to publicize the beauty of the Hetch Hetchy Valley. Prominent sponsors of the dam proposal, particularly (by then former) Mayor James Phelan and city engineer Marsdon Manson (and later his successor, Michael OShaughnessy), quietly lobbied key figures in the government, trusting that the appeal of municipal water and power would easily win supporters amid the prevailing progressive political climate. Due to extreme winter weather, Yosemite National Park is closed with no estimated date of reopening. Surrounding the water are a few waterfalls, the most prominent being Tueeulala and Wapama Falls, and countless rock features. Hetch Hetchy Valley, dammed and flooded in the 1920s despite bitter opposition from Sierra Club founder John Muir, provides drinking water for an estimated 2 million people in the San Francisco . The watershed is also strictly protected, so swimming and boating are prohibited at the reservoir (although fishing is permitted at the reservoir and in the rivers which feed it),[60] a measure which is considered unusual for US lakes outside the region. The regional water system provides water to 2.4 million people in San Francisco, Santa Clara, Alameda and San Mateo counties. Said San Francisco resident William Denman in 1918, "The first time I went into the Hetch Hetchy the mosquitoes were intolerable. This 1910 view shows Kolana Rock and Tueeulala Falls in the background. The network goes from the Sierra Nevada mountains, across the Central Valley and out to the coast, and serves 2.5 million Californians in 30 cities across four counties. [72] The water storage provided at Hetch Hetchy could be transferred into Lake Don Pedro lower on the Tuolumne River by raising the New Don Pedro Dam 30ft (9.1m). But how did the dam get to be here? On returning home, he asked an Indian chief the name of the valley. Hetch Hetchy Valley was once home to a richly diverse ecosystem, surrounded by towering cliffs and waterfalls similar to those in neighboring Yosemite Valley. Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, encompassing 2,000 acres of federal park land, has clearly been maintained for the benefit of San Francisco with minimal consideration of the wider public whose tax dollarsand, in the case of visitors, entrance feessupport the national park. "Hetch Hetchy is a grand landscape garden, one of nature's rarest and most precious mountain temples. The trail includes spectacular views of Tueeulala and Wapama Falls. Some of these studies determined that the idea of draining the reservoir was technically feasible but incredibly costly. That trip is a 19.1-mile (22.9 km) out and back, or you can turn the hike into a loop that returns past Rancheria Falls (28.2 miles, 45.4 km). Within 50 years, vegetative cover would be complete except for exposed rocky areas. The battle for the Hetch Hetchy Valleys future was not simply preservation versus conservation. Pinchot was Americas Forester. He served as the first head of the United States Forest Service. Within the ranks of the Sierra Club, there was a split between those San Francisco members who favored the dams municipal use versus those who believed this pristine area should not be tampered with under any circumstances. This strenuous 2.5-mile, round-trip hike to the Tuolumne River has 1,229 feet of elevation gain. William Howard Taft became president in 1909. In the sum of American economic expansion the intrusion might have seemed a minor, obscure matter, but to [John] Muir immense issues were involved: why had the nation preserved that pure wildness in the first place? while birds, bees, and butterflies help the river and waterfalls to stir all the air into music. Photo: Theresa Ho, Of course, the proposal was immediately opposed by environmentalists including the Sierra Club and John Muir. Watershed Worker (Summer, 2023) - Hetch Hetchy Water & Power (Moccasin) - SFPUC (7542) Job at City and County of San Francisco in Moccasin. Guests at these suites receive breakfast on their patios. Put another way, if Congress denied the city of San Francisco the Hetch Hetchy Valley, the California Progressive leaders suspected that it would only be a matter of time before the emerging Pacific Gas and Electric Company would grab the area. While opponents of the dam were hard pressed for financial support, the city of San Franciscos campaign was well financed. Finally, with the railroad complete, teams broke ground on the OShaughnessy Dam on August 1, 1919. There is plenty to see and do right here, from kayaking on the water to climbing the magnificent domes above. The Hetch Hetchy Reservoir also serves to provide energy in the form of hydroelectricity, with a capacity of over 200 megawatts a year. Hetch Hetchy is unique because of its small holding capacity in comparison to the vast watershed feeding it. Yes, the plan to drain Hetch Hetchy involves causing new ecological damage. This option favors building a dam in the Hetch Hetchy Valley to provide hundreds of thou- sands of San Francisco residents with water and electricitybasic necessities for health and well-being, as well as urban development and economic growth. As of 2013, the water storage and hydroelectric power supplied by the Hetch Hetchy Project serviced an estimated 2.6 million people in the San Francisco Bay Area. [8] Rancheria Falls is located farther southeast, on Rancheria Creek. Muir famously said, Dam Hetch Hetchy! The new. RELATED: Meet The Real Life Batman & Robin Of The National Parks. There are many places to stop and enjoy views of the rushing water before turning around to return to your car. He wrote, I have always called it the Tuolumne Yosemite, for it is a wonderfully exact counterpart of the great Yosemite, not only in its crystal river and sublime rocks and waterfalls, but in the gardens, groves, and meadows of its flowery park-like floor. In the distance, long white plumes of water cascade hundreds of feet down from rocky heights. The valley floor consisted of roughly 1,200 acres (490ha) of meadows fringed by pine forest, through which meandered the Tuolumne River and numerous tributary streams. Each switchback reveals scenic overlooks of the reservoir and Kolana Rock. Park entry (as needed). That reservoir is New Don Pedro, and it rests over existing pipelines to the Bay Area. Apply Today! In this unmanaged scenario, where nature is left to take hold in the valley, eventually a forest would grow, rather than the meadow being restored. Friday, enjoy an evening about bats starting at 7 pm. The dam also provides flood control, irrigation, and water storage along the Colorado River. As the Hetch Hetchy Valley was part of Yosemite National Park, Hitchcock preferred to protect the parks natural wonders. The Hetch Hetchy dam is upstream on the Tuolumne River from a reservoir nearly six times as large. For example, plan to stop at the Lucky Buck Cafe on your way to or from a day of exploring Yosemite. Being one of the biggest hydroelectric facilities in the United States and a National Landmark, Hoover Dam generates power to serve more than 1.3 million people. . Then it travels through a series of mountain tunnels. Annie Li, a senior engineer at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, points to the yellow and brown squiggly lines on the map, revealing our water's path from Hetch Hetchy to the Bay Area. The main power facility in the system, the Moccasin Powerhouse, began commercial operation on August 14, 1925. San Francisco was able to accomplish this in 1925 by claiming it had run out of funds to extend the Hetch Hetchy transmission line all the way to the city. To get to Hetch Hetchy, turn north off Highway 120 onto Evergreen Road about 1 mile (2.2 km) outside the Big Oak Flat Entrance gate, and 12.5 miles (20 km) east of the small community of Buck Meadows. That's about twice the amount of power lost when Hetch Hetchy will be restored. They suggest that draining the reservoir and turning Hetch Hetchy Valley into a tourist center similar to Yosemite Valley could be worth up to $178 million per year. [20] They hunted, and gathered seeds and edible plants to furnish themselves winter food, trade items, and materials for art and ceremonial objects. Building the Dam. The imputed motive was to divide the environmental movement: to see residents of the strongly Democratic city of San Francisco coming out against an environmental issue. Secretary of the Interior, Ethan Allen Hitchcock, refused to give San Francisco a permit to build the dam. Rancheria Falls itself is a series of whitewater cascades that crashes through a narrow canyon on its way to the reservoir. The U.S. Congress passed and President Woodrow Wilson signed the Raker Act in 1913, which permitted the flooding of the valley under the conditions that power and water derived from the river could only be used for public interests. OPTION 3Give control to the local people of Hetch Hetchy You may take easy hike to Wapama falls ( around 6 miles) or even more challenging hike to Rancheria falls ( around 14 miles). In an effort to build this support, he published his bookThe Yosemitein 1912. Valley, reservoir, and aqueduct in California, USA, sfn error: no target: CITEREFMatthes1930 (, sfn error: no target: CITEREFWohlforth2004 (, sfn error: no target: CITEREFWhitney1874 (, sfn error: no target: CITEREFGlennon2009 (, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Hetch Hetchy, List of dams and reservoirs in California, List of the tallest dams in the United States, "Alternatives for Restoration of Hetch Hetchy Valley Following Removal of the Dam and Reservoir", "Hetch Hetchy Reclaimed: Drain it, then what? The reservoir provides water to a large portion of the Bay Area through a 160 mile delivery. [50] The removal of the dam would be extremely costly, at least $310 billion,[76] and the transport of the demolished material away from the dam site along the narrow, winding Hetch Hetchy Road would be a logistical nightmare with possible environmental impacts. [84] Karin Klein has described Yosemite Valley as "so crammed that it looks more like a ripstop ghetto than the site of a nature experience. Utilizing its superior resources, the city produced a detailed report which made a compelling case that, far from damaging the beauty of Yosemite, the dam would actually enhance it. The Freeman Report artfully depicted reservoirs in Norway, the United Kingdom and the eastern United States showing how nature and public utility worked together to improve their surroundings and provide long-term benefits for everyone. The other route begins at the entrance station and is 16 miles round-trip with 3,300 feet of elevation gain. And it is the largest single source of water supply for the Bay Area. [82] Dianne Feinstein opposed this allocation, saying, "I will do all I can to make sure it isn't included in the final bill. Once again, the political pendulum had swung. But the reservoir has spared it some of the indignities of Yosemite Valley", "San Francisco Department of Elections, November 2012 Results", "San Francisco vote to study draining Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is defeated", "Hetch Hetchy Water and the Bay Area Economy", "Thesis: Water Supply Implications of Removing O'Shaughnessy Dam", "New Irvington Tunnel latest in Hetch Hetchy water system improvements", Current Conditions, Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, California Department of Water Resources, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission: Hetch Hetchy Water and Power, California Resources Agency Hetch Hetchy Restoration Study, Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency on Hetch Hetchy dam, National Register of Historic Places in Yosemite National Park, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hetch_Hetchy&oldid=1131920349, History of the Sierra Nevada (United States), Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the National Park Service, Articles with dead external links from May 2019, Articles with permanently dead external links, Articles with unsourced statements from May 2022, Infobox mapframe without OSM relation ID on Wikidata, Pages using infobox bridge with empty coordinates parameter, All articles with vague or ambiguous time, Vague or ambiguous time from October 2019, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2019, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 6 January 2023, at 11:49. This was likely because of Hetch Hetchy's narrow outlet, which in years of heavy snowmelt created a bottleneck in the Tuolumne River and the subsequent flooding of the valley floor. A large part of today's incentive for restoration is that when the dam and the Hetch Hetchy reservoir were authorized by President Woodrow Wilson in 1913, as the Raker Act, the Hetch Hetchy Valley . "[22], The valley's name may be derived from a Miwok word earlier anglicized as hatchhatchie, which means "edible grasses"[8][23] or "magpie".
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benefits of hetch hetchy dam