Argument Against The Hetchy Dam - 587 Words - Internet Public Library I will agree to take down Hetch Hetchy, when we first replace it with a bigger new reservoir such as a bigger taller Yosemite Valley dam at El Capitan. The Hetch Hetchy Dam is destroying a piece of land that is the homes of multiple types of animals. In 1923, the O'Shaughnessy Dam was completed on the Tuolumne River, flooding the entire valley under the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. [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. The O'Shaughnessy Dam is 430-foot (131 m) high made of concrete and it is named after engineer Michael O'Shaughnessy, who oversaw the entire construction. The Hetch Hetchy Valley is a part of Yosemite National Park. 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. This ballot measure is so problematic that SPUR has taken early action to oppose it. By 1908, a different Interior Secretary, James R. Garfield, sided with the utilitarian conservationists and issued a permit for the Hetch Hetchy project. Like Muir, he was totally transfixed by the Hetch Hetchy Valley. Glaciers followed these low-points, leaving their own marks in particular carving out the characteristic U-shaped valley with steep sides and wide floor. 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. Could you imagine building a dam inside a national park today? Fortunately, that time has not yet come, so this November, vote no on the Water Sustainability and Environmental Restoration Planning Act of 2012. Lets keep Hetch Hetchy around for the forseeable future. It then cascades on its westward descent through the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne, and enters the eastern end of Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. It carried workers and materials for the dam, as well as tourists, postage and other amenities. In the distance, long white plumes of water cascade hundreds of feet down from rocky heights. Friday, enjoy an evening about bats starting at 7 pm. 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. Water could be diverted into the Kirkwood and Moccasin Powerhouses using lower-impact diversion dams, providing power generation on a seasonal basis, and the enlarged height at Don Pedro would also increase power generation there. You can expect one (short) email per month. The 68mi (109km) Hetch Hetchy Railroad was constructed to link the Sierra Railway with Hetch Hetchy Valley, allowing for direct rail shipment of construction materials from San Francisco to the dam site. 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. [8], Meadow plants unavailable in the lowlands were particularly valuable resources to these tribes. Your email address will not be published. This can lead to algal blooms and decreased oxygen levels. The . Above all, one's behavior Argument Against The Hetchy Dam 587 Words | 3 Pages 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. [16], Compared with Yosemite Valley, the walls of Hetch Hetchy are smoother and rounder because it was glaciated to a greater extent. The most prominent preservationist spokesman was John Muir.. Five country-chic rooms in the main building include en suite bathrooms, free WiFi and electric fireplaces. [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. 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. There, he met the same Indian chief and his wives. The chief replied, There is no valley. 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 Great Alaskan Land Fraud and the Pinchot-Ballinger Controversy caused both Richard A. Ballinger and Gifford Pinchot to resign and be fired respectively. The battle over the Hetch Hetchy, in part, was a fight over public versus private ownership of vital resources such as water. [8] Rancheria Falls is located farther southeast, on Rancheria Creek. Divide the class into four small groups. The Hetch Hetchy Valley is about 8 miles (13 km) from 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. 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? 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. The National Park Service conducted research to determine what would happen if the dam were removed, and people have repeatedly proposed costly studies to further understand the consequences of removing the dam. 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. [46], Work on the Hetch Hetchy Project began in 1914. [18], Due to its abundant wetlands and stream pools, Hetch Hetchy was notorious among early travelers for becoming infested with mosquitoes in the summertime. In the 21st century, Ken Brower, son of the renown environmentalist David Brower, wrote a fascinating account of the failed campaign to save Hetch Hetchy and the modern effort to Reverse an American Mistake, complete with speculation about how the rebirth of a wild valley might evolve. This effort was famously and vociferously fought by John Muir and was the subject of a national debate for years; the loss later galvanized the Sierra Club to successfully oppose large dams in Dinosaur National Monument and Grand Canyon National Park. Have all students read the debate overview and page one of the HR 7207, the "Raker Bill". They poured an estimated total of more than 398,000 cubic yards (304,000 cubic meters) of concrete to form the dam. Many are vital pieces of infrastructure that provide reliable water supplies, hydropower, flood control, and recreation. The extensive amount of storage, which is designed to benefit the Bay Area as droughts become more severe with climate. Yes, the plan to drain Hetch Hetchy involves causing new ecological damage. Hetch Hetchy Valley was once home to a richly diverse ecosystem, surrounded by towering cliffs and waterfalls similar to those in neighboring Yosemite Valley. What should be the fate of prairies, wetlands, or coastal marshes? 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. Hetch Hetchy is dammed by the 430-foot-tall OShaughnessy Dam and has a storage capacity of 360,360 acre-feet. [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. In its natural state, the valley floor was marshy and often flooded in the spring when snow melt in the high Sierra cascaded down the Tuolumne River and backed up behind the narrow gorge which is now spanned by O'Shaughnessy Dam. [45], The controversy over Hetch Hetchy was in the context of other political scandals and controversies, especially prevalent in the Taft administration. The O'Shaughnessy Dam was completed in 1923 and, after the . From our petition "The cost of replacing water storage in Hetch Hetchy Valley to maintain the current levels of water service and electrical power production by CCSF would be approximately 2 billion dollars, including 199 million dollars for additional interties, 372 million dollars for water supply, 387 million dollars for water treatment, 669 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. [82] Dianne Feinstein opposed this allocation, saying, "I will do all I can to make sure it isn't included in the final bill. [31], During this time, the upper Tuolumne River, including Hetch Hetchy Valley, was visited by prospectors attracted by the California Gold Rush. [85] 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. [5], The valley is fed by the Tuolumne River, Falls Creek, Tiltill Creek, Rancheria Creek, and numerous smaller streams which collectively drain a watershed of 459sqmi (1,190km2). The trail to Wapama Falls is one of the most popular trails in the Hetch Hetchy area for a good reason. In the Bay Area, Hetch Hetchy water is stored in local facilities including Calaveras Reservoir, Crystal Springs Reservoir, and San Antonio Reservoir. Most of the dam would remain in place, both to avoid the enormous costs of demolition and removal, and to serve as a monument for the workers who built it. Park entry (as needed). Included with your registration: Two-day guided experience in Yosemite; one day at Hetch Hetchy and one day in Ackerson Meadow (Saturday, May 11, at 8 am, through Sunday, May 12, until about 3 pm). Controversy continues to swirl around the Hetch Hetchy Dam even now. Monroe was a Chicago poet who joined Muir and others on their 1908 and 1909 outings to the valley. . From this work, we have concluded that it is not wise to reduce water storage facilities considering the realities of a growing population and climate change. 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. The trail includes spectacular views of Tueeulala and Wapama Falls. Hiking Hetch Hetchy: the unknown Yosemite National Park - 2TravelDads There are four fundamental ways in which dams damage rivers. On returning home, he asked an Indian chief the name of the 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. Eighty-five percent of the water comes from Sierra Nevada snowmelt stored in the Hetch Hetchy reservoir situated on the Tuolumne River in Yosemite National Park. 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. Standing upon it will give you the chance to appreciate the sublimity of both nature and human achievement. Hetch Hetchy Valley, Yosemite National Park, California The Greatest It pitted a powerful city against a dedicated group of conservationists. Hetch Hetchy, unlike other water storage facilities in California, is relatively buffered from near-term climate change because of its high elevation. 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. Shasta, Oroville, Hetch Hetchy and many others were built by damming large rivers. In Yosemite National Park, the Hetch Hetchy reservoir relies on the annual snowmelt to stay full. ", "The Hetch Hetchy Story, Part II: PG&E and the Raker Act", "The Forbidden Water: San Francisco and Hetch Hetchy Valley", "Idyllic Pulgas Water Temple still offers comfort for weary wanderers", "Chronology of San Francisco's Water Development", "Frequently Asked Questions About Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and the Regional Water & Power System", "Water From Yosemite Is Still Cheap, for Now", "Serving 2.6 million residential, commercial and industrial customers", "Hetch Hetchy water goes through ultraviolet rinse", "A historic bid for limited boating at Hetch Hetchy Reservoir", "Trump team reassigns Yosemite National Park superintendent; timing raises questions", "Western Water Wars: Efforts to Take Over San Francisco's Hetch Hetchy Systems", "Hetch Hetchy Power Debacle: Continuing Yosemite Threat", "Could Hetch Hetchy Valley be worth $100 billion? Watershed Worker (Summer, 2023) - Hetch Hetchy Water & Power (Moccasin A recent report evaluates the economic benefits of restoring Hetch Hetchy Valley. Restore Hetch Hetchy Valley, Vote Yes! on Proposition F 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. The upcountry portion of the System begins with Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park. The Dam Rent Is Too Low - PERC As John Clayton writes, At the height of Progressivism, Phelan and other good-government types believed that the city should administer its own utilities. benefits of hetch hetchy dam. Since the valley was within Yosemite National Park, an act of Congress was needed to authorize the project. Finally, in 1988, a third generator was added to the Kirkwood Powerhouse. Hetch Hetchy is on the main stem of the Tuolumne River and is part of the Tuolumne watershed. [5] Local legend attributes the modern name Hetch Hetchy to Screech's initial arrival in the valley, during which he observed the Native Americans "cooking a variety of grass covered with edible seeds", which they called "hatch hatchy" or "hatchhatchie". Building the Dam. 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. Then, in 1906, a devastating earthquake caused a series of fires in San Francisco that destroyed 25,000 buildings across 490 city blocks. [40] By the 1880s, San Francisco was looking to Hetch Hetchy water as a fix for its outdated and unreliable water system. Yosemite's Secret Valley - Hetch Hetchy - YouTube The dam and reservoir are the source for the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct, which provides water for over . Most importantly, San Francisco would lose its source of high-quality mountain water, and would have to depend on lower-quality water from other reservoirs which would require costly filtration and re-engineering of the aqueduct system to meet its needs. Today, descendants of these people still use milkweed, deergrass, bracken fern, willow, and other plants for a variety of uses including baskets, medicines, and string. As well dam for water tanks the peoples cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man.'. [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. More Than Just Parks | National Parks Guides. Most people called it Hetch Hetchy, a mispronunciation of a Central Mohawk word for a plant that indigenous people were harvesting there when the first white man came along.. He discovered it a few of years later. Copyright © 2023 More Than Just Parks | This post may contain affiliate links - read our Standards, Corrections, & Privacy Policy. The proposed study would also have been required to identify potential replacements for the water storage capacity and hydroelectric power production.[87][88]. We have historic photographs to remind us of what Hetch Hetchy Valley looked like before the dam was built. There is no Starbucks here no daily parade of tour buses and RVs. The valley provided an escape from the summer heat of the lowlands. The second concept is preservation. Other trails also continue to Lake Vernon. Amid a worsening drought, water supplies at one important reservoir are [citation needed], The Hetch Hetchy Valley began as a V-shaped river canyon cut out by the ancestral Tuolumne River. 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.. Indeed, the battle over Hetch Hetchy may have been a little-known contributor to the permanent alignment of American politics it was the tension between Ballinger and Pinchot that set in motion the events that lead to the split mentioned above. The water from Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is used to supply system customers as well as to generate hydroelectric power; the reservoir is also operated to provide instream flows to benefit fisheries and other wildlife.