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. The SFPUC and other Hetch Hetchy users are currently implementing plans to meet this demand through recycled water, groundwater and conservation. Congress would decide the fate of the Hetchy Hetchy Valley. The report cited other dam projects in making the argument that this project would increase tourism. If, on the other hand, San Francisco gained control, it would signal in important victory for public power resulting in lower rates for the people. More Than Just Parks | National Parks Guides. 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. That's about twice the amount of power lost when Hetch Hetchy will be restored. 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 . When youre standing at the shore overlooking what appears to be a lake, picture yourself looking down into a verdant valley filled with the tall native grasses that give the valley its name. The dam and reservoir are the source for the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct, which provides water for over . Slow down and spend the day at Tenaya Lake a beautiful and easy-to-get-to alpine lake cupped by granite domes. To do so, it would either have to buy out the private monopoly at an exorbitant price or outmaneuver or outbid Spring Valley for a potential new reservoir., (Source: Natural Rivals: John Muir, Gifford Pinchot, and the Creation of Americas Public Lands, John Clayton). Located 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas, the dam captures water from the . Rancheria Falls itself is a series of whitewater cascades that crashes through a narrow canyon on its way to the reservoir. Instead, it was a more complicated battle which pitted public interests against private interests. Today the 117-billion-gallon reservoir supplies drinking water to about 2.5 million San Francisco Bay Area residents and hydro-electric power generated by two plants downstream. It was the second tallest dam in the U.S. at the time. You could then scuba ElCapitan down to the valley floor. 406 California Historical Landmark)", "John Muir's Yosemite: The father of the conservation movement found his calling on a visit to the California wilderness", "Timeline of the Ongoing Battle Over Hetch Hetchy", "The Hetch Hetchy Letters: If a Group of Intellectuals Argues in a Forest, and then that Forest is Submerged Under Water, Does Their Argument Matter? Smith Peak (7,751 feet) is the highest point in the area and offers outstanding views. 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. First, the beauty of the valley which they felt should not be sacrificed to build a dam. They were both initially carved by rivers flowing down the Sierras relatively gentle western slope. By 1908, a different Interior Secretary, James R. Garfield, sided with the utilitarian conservationists and issued a permit for the Hetch Hetchy project. Hetch Hetchy is a valley, a reservoir, and a water system in California in the United States. Ultimately, San Francisco sold hydropower from the dam to the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), which led to decades of legal wrangling and controversy over terms in the Raker Act. John Muir once described Hetch Hetchy Valley as, a grand landscape garden, one of Natures rarest and most precious mountain temples.. . The walls of both are of gray granite, rise abruptly out of the flowery grass and groves are sculptured in the same style, and in both every rock is a glacial monument., (Source: Journal of Sierra Nevada History & Biography, Hetch-Hetchy, Natural History Before The Dam, Joe Medeiros), In defense of Hetch Hetchy, Muir crafted some of his most famous prose. Now San Francisco wanted to dam one of the two principal watersheds in the park, the Hetch Hetchy valley through which ran the Tuolumne River, to create a reservoir for its water supply. Hetch Hetchy is the incredible story of Americas most controversial dam and the birth of the environmental movement. An anthropocentrist would agree with building the dam in the park without taking into consideration what the dam would do to the already existing ecosystem due to not caring about the established animals and plants. Hetch Hetchy water travels 160 miles via gravity from . Five country-chic rooms in the main building include en suite bathrooms, free WiFi and electric fireplaces. In 2019, Restore Hetch Hetchy commissioned another study that found enormous recreational value from removing the dam. [20] They hunted, and gathered seeds and edible plants to furnish themselves winter food, trade items, and materials for art and ceremonial objects. But Hetch Hetchy was a federally protected as part of Yosemite National Park. There have been lawsuits over whether San Francisco violated the agreements of the Raker Act. From the turn-off, the road winds for 16.5 miles up the old Hetch Hetchy railroad grade (26.5 km) to the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, passing many lonely trails along the way. Apply Today! It carried workers and materials for the dam, as well as tourists, postage and other amenities. He discovered it a few of years later. Over the next decade, he produced fifteen large oils that transformed the valley into a dreamland unlike anything that ever met mortal eye.. Photo: Chris Migeon In the Bay Area, Hetch Hetchy water is stored in local facilities including Calaveras Reservoir, Crystal Springs Reservoir, and San Antonio Reservoir. [21] Miwok names are still used for features, including Tueeulala Fall, Wapama Fall, and Kolana Rock. 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. Sign up for the email list and join an active community of monthly readers. 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 . [51][52] The aqueduct delivers an average of 265,000acreft (327,000,000m3) of water each year, or 31,900,000cuft (900,000m3) per day, to residents of San Francisco and San Mateo, Santa Clara and Alameda Counties. As we all know, there is no use of water that is higher than the domestic use., He went on to say, We come straight to the question of whether the advantage of leaving this valley in a state of nature is greater than the advantage of using it for the benefit of the city of San Francisco.. The Great Alaskan Land Fraud and the Pinchot-Ballinger Controversy caused both Richard A. Ballinger and Gifford Pinchot to resign and be fired respectively. Healthy fish populations - by releasing sufficient instream flows for spawning and rearing downstream - sometimes to mitigate for the loss of spawning habitat caused by their construction, and Teams completed the OShaughnessy Dam in 1923 and the reservoir filled for the first time in May of that year. This strenuous 2.5-mile, round-trip hike to the Tuolumne River has 1,229 feet of elevation gain. Buck Meadows is also a great place to spend the night. Once again, the political pendulum had swung. 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. At SPUR, we have done a lot of work on climate change adaptation. The openings in the Taft administration led to the eventual success of the Raker Act. [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. Next to John Muir, the most vocal defender of the Hetch Hetchy Valley was Harriet Monroe. 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. People have died after being swept off the bridge and onto the rocks below. Hetch Hetchy doesn't require permit, you need just regular National park pass. The Poopenaut Trail begins at a signed trailhead four miles past the entrance station. As a result, San Francisco secured a reliable and . Albright, along with Stephen Mather, became instrumental players in the creation of a national park system three years after Congress decided the issue of Hetch Hetchy. The National Park Service concluded that two years after draining the valley, grasses would cover most of its floor and within 10 years, clumps of cone-bearing trees and some oaks would take root. O'Shaughnessey Dam Facts. As a consequence, visitors came to experience it for themselves. [21] Periodic clearing of the valley provided ample space for the growth of the grasses and shrubs they relied on, as well as additional room for large game animals such as deer to browse. Hetch Hetchy and Yosemite Valley are so similar because they were created by the same sequences of geological activity. Hoover Dam. [54][55], After passing through the powerhouses, Hetch Hetchy water flows into the 167mi (269km) Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct which travels across the Central Valley. OShaughnessy Dam and the waterworks that connect it to the Bay Area are a marvel of engineering. For your last day, enjoy a short hike on the shores of the beautiful Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. The other route begins at the entrance station and is 16 miles round-trip with 3,300 feet of elevation gain. Exactly how San Francisco won the right to transform the bucolic valley into a Assign each group to analyze one or more . OPTION 3Give control to the local people of Hetch Hetchy Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like The 1987 UN Commission on Sustainability first introduced the concept of ________ as a necessary focus for maintaining sustainability. But during peak spring flow, the thundering waterfall can wash over the bridge making it dangerous to cross. 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? Building the Dam. 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. The chief began packing up and, when Nate asked him why, he replied, The valley is yours now., Far below them, the river cascaded into a peaceful valley floor, a heavenly setting similar to that of the main Yosemite Valley. The water is transported from the reservoir by the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct which is made up of 170 miles of gravity-driven pipelines, dams, and other reservoirs. 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. In an effort to build this support, he published his bookThe Yosemitein 1912. [2] From Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, the water flows through the Canyon and Mountain Tunnels to Kirkwood and Moccasin Powerhouses, which have capacities of 124 and 110 megawatts, respectively. The Hetch Hetchy Road drops into the valley at the dam, but all points east of there are roadless, and accessible only to hikers and equestrians. For most of the year the waterfall offers a refreshing shower or cooling mist along with an amazing view. Miners did not stay in the area for long, however, as richer deposits occurred further south along the Merced River and in the Big Oak Flat area. [40] The city would repeatedly try to acquire water rights to Hetch Hetchy, including in 1901, 1903 and 1905, but was continually rebuffed because of conflicts with irrigation districts that had senior water rights on the Tuolumne River, and because of the valley's national park status. Hetch Hetchy and many others were built by . It involved the unintended consequences of efforts to shape the environment to meet human needs. Shasta, Oroville, Hetch Hetchy and many others were built by damming large rivers. can you smoke on royal caribbean cruise ships benefits of hetch hetchy dam. Since then, the "Hetch Hetchy System" has continued to grow, now including nine impoundments . SPUR Urban Center, 654 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-4015 | (415) 781-8726 | [emailprotected], 2023 SPUR Privacy Policy 501(C)(3) Non-Profit Tax Identification: 94-1498232, a member-supported nonprofit organization. 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. The Hetch Hetchy dam is upstream on the Tuolumne River from a reservoir nearly six times as large. In Yosemite National Park, the Hetch Hetchy reservoir relies on the annual snowmelt to stay full. But tearing OShaughnessy Dam down now in order to restore Hetch Hetchy Valley would be a disaster. [13], Hetch Hetchy is home to a diverse array of plants and animals. As well dam for water-tanks the peoples cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man . Had it been, the Sierra Clubs members would have presented a united front in opposition to its development. Garfield was responding to critics who believed that the federal governments primary responsibility was to use the nations public resources for development in the service for the greatest number of people. history. Copyright © 2023 More Than Just Parks | This post may contain affiliate links - read our Standards, Corrections, & Privacy Policy. And, as you might imagine, it produces some of the cleanest municipal water in the United States. SPUR wholeheartedly agrees that planning for water quality and reliability is important. Although Hetch Hetchy is included within the boundaries of Yosemite National Park, the entrance is separate from the rest of the park. Winter weather conditions may cause road closures. between those who wish to retain the dam and reservoir, and those who wish to drain the reservoir and return Hetch Hetchy Valley to its former state. This time, in favor of those who wanted to build the dam. As the grazing of livestock damaged native plants in the Hetch Hetchy Valley, mountaineer and naturalist John Muir pressed for the protection of both valleys under a single national park. [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. About one million years ago, the extensive Sherwin glaciation widened, deepened and straightened river valleys along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, including Hetch Hetchy, Yosemite Valley, and Kings Canyon farther to the south. The Hetch Hetchy system's supporters say it has one of the smallest carbon footprints of any water system in the United States because its water is of such high quality that it requires no. Have all students read the debate overview and page one of the HR 7207, the "Raker Bill". Animals were principally driven along Joseph Screech's trail from Big Oak Flat to Hetch Hetchy. In the autumn of 1871, John Muir visited Hetch Hetchy for the first time. [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. As John Clayton writes, At the height of Progressivism, Phelan and other good-government types believed that the city should administer its own utilities. The Hetch Hetchy Dam is destroying a piece of land that is the homes of multiple types of animals. . A) human well-being B) renewable energy C) environmental sustainability D) cultural services E) human population growth, The current total world population has just passed ________. Dianne Feinstein, the mayor of San Francisco at the time, said in a Los Angeles Times story in 1987: "All this is for an expanded campground? If you delight in getting off the well-beaten path, or if you are looking for a peaceful natural retreat, its perfection. To get the electricity they would need, they first built a smaller dam at Lake Eleanor. No BS! Photo: Kim Lawson. The dam is a small portion of the overall Tuolumne River/San Francisco storage system that benefits the Bay Area. Like Muir, he was totally transfixed by the Hetch Hetchy Valley. The proposed ballot measure calls for the creation of a task force that would spend $8 million to develop a long-term plan for improving water quality and reliability, remediating environmental damages caused by the water supply system, and identifying new water and renewable energy supplies so that Hetch Hetchy Valley could be returned to the National Park Service. [16], Compared with Yosemite Valley, the walls of Hetch Hetchy are smoother and rounder because it was glaciated to a greater extent. Camping included, if needed; limited sites are shared among all the . "[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. Forests might provide for the material well-being of human beings, but they did not exist for this reason alone. Dam Hetch Hetchy! [6][7], Upstream from the valley lies the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne, while the smaller Poopenaut Valley is directly downstream from O'Shaughnessy Dam. Subsequent proposals for development in our national parks have been defeated by citizen activists inspired by calls to remember Hetch Hetchy. 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. These clean and comfortable rooms also enjoy access to the pool, spa and other facilities at Yosemite Westgate Lodge. [3] Kolana Rock, at 5,772ft (1,759m), is a massive rock spire on the south side of the Hetch Hetchy Valley. [35] Muir, who himself had briefly worked as a shepherd in Hetch Hetchy, was known for calling sheep "hoofed locusts" because of their environmental impact. [2] The dam contains 675,000cuyd (516,000m3) of concrete. 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. Application Opening: February 10, 2023 Application Filing Deadline: March 3, 2023 Hourly Compensation: $27.3125 Recruitment ID: RTF0131751-01138303 (131752) APPOINTMENT TYPE: Temporary Exempt: This position is excluded by the Charter from the competitive Civil Service examination process and shall serve at the discretion of the Appointing Officer. Hydroelectric power generated from the Hetch Hetchy project is largely sold to Bay Area customers through a private power company, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). Rounding the corner and catching the first glimpses of Hetch Hetchy Valley reveals the play of light on water. [58], Water from Hetch Hetchy is some of the cleanest municipal water in the United States; San Francisco is one of six U.S. cities not required by law to filter its tap water, although the water is disinfected by ozonation and, since 2011, exposure to UV. Note: you may use the handout or navigate to our feature on the Hetch Hetchy Environmental Debates to access the overview and copy of the Raker Bill. Right next to the Lucky Buck Cafe, youll find the Yosemite Westgate Lodge and Buck Meadows Lodge. [41], In 1906, after a major earthquake and subsequent fire that devastated San Francisco, the inadequacy of the city's water system was made tragically clear. Would that be an improvement? strongly against restoration. Restore Hetch Hetchy and the Environmental Defense Funds own studies support a lower cost estimate, ranging from $1 billion to $2 billion. Hetch Hetchy, located at 3,900 feet in Yosemite National Park, is one of the park's most popular hiking . It marks the first catchment in a 160-mile long water system that brings high quality, superb-tasting water to 2.6 million residents of the Bay Area every day. Just before reaching the Bay Area, it passes through the Irvington tunnel near the city of Fremont, and the aqueduct splits into four pipelines at 373253N 1215555W / 37.548104N 121.932041W / 37.548104; -121.932041. San Francisco Mayor James Phelan led the fight to build a dam at Hetch Hetchy. The glacial Hetch Hetchy Valley lies in the northwestern part of Yosemite National Park and is drained by the Tuolumne River. Garfield had granted San Franciscos request, but Ballinger ordered the city to show cause as to why Hetch Hetchy should not be deleted from their grant. "[19], People have lived in Hetch Hetchy Valley for over 6,000 years. After Hetch Hetchy, many realized the National Parks needed more protection. [85] "[85] However, she does support breaching the dam once it has reached the end of its lifespan, and not replacing it. High temperatures prevail in summer months, but that is a small price to pay for the reward of vast wilderness filled with stunning peaks, hidden canyons, and remote lakes. [56] All four pipelines cross the Hayward fault. 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. The locations of these two formations roughly correspond with those of Cathedral Rocks and El Capitan seen from Tunnel View in Yosemite Valley. At full capacity, the reservoir stretches eight miles (13 km) upstream of the OShaughnessy Dam. At the time, neither side understood the long-range consequences of human actions to manage the environment. Following a fierce nationwide debate led by John Muir and Will Colby of the Sierra Club, the City of San Francisco was authorized by the U.S. Congress, in the Raker Act of 1913, to construct a dam and reservoir on the Tuolumne River in Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park. San Francisco had its eyes on this water source early on and repeatedly tried to acquire water rights to the Tuolumne River. While John Muir led the fight against building the dam, the opposition was supported by Gifford Pinchot. Other trails also continue to Lake Vernon. It forced elected representatives to consider what a national park designation truly meant and whether or not the land within these parks deserved protection. Located at 3,900 feet, Hetch Hetchy boasts one of the longest hiking seasons in the park and is an ideal place for thundering spring waterfalls and wildflower displays. Muir observed:[3]. 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. It spans 900 feet (270 m) with a 17-foot (5.2 m) wide trail across the top that hikers use to cross to the opposite side. Swimming and boating are prohibited in Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in order to maintain a clean source of drinking water. 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. Should nature be left alone so that flora and fauna flourish while people enjoy its primal wonders? [37][38] However, ranchers who had previously owned land in the new park continued their use of Hetch Hetchy Valley a "sheep-grazing free-for-all [that] threatened to denude the High Sierra meadows"[37] before disputes over state and private properties in respect to national park boundaries were finally settled in the early 1900s.