benefits of hetch hetchy dam
He said, So we come now face to face with the perfectly clean question of what is the best use to which this water that flows out of the Sierras can be put. As well dam for water-tanks the peoples cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man . The trail includes spectacular views of Tueeulala and Wapama Falls. Within three years, Congress had passed the Organic Act, formally defining the parks and creating a new federal agency, the National Park Service, with a mission: to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.. Those who did visit it were enchanted by its scenery, but encountered difficulties with the primitive conditions and, in summertime, swarms of mosquitoes. While the dialogue around the West's water wars has been concentrated on the Colorado River and the alarming decline of Lake Powell and Lake Mead, watersheds across the Western United States are feeling the effects of a rapidly aridifying landscape due to climate change. San Francisco assumed from the outset that there would not be significant opposition to using the Hetch Hetchy Valley, even if it was in a national park, for the high and noble purpose of providing water to one of the nations great and growing metropolises, so their efforts in Washington, DC, were conducted discreetly. 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 falls roar in spring and early summer. [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). Hetch Hetchy Valley, far from being a plain, common, rock-bound meadow, as many who have not seen it seem to suppose, is a grand landscape garden, one of Nature's rarest and most precious mountain temples. Dam Hetch Hetchy! 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. "[81] Hodel, now retired, is still[when?] 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. Surrounding the water are a few waterfalls, the most prominent being Tueeulala and Wapama Falls, and countless rock features. [79] Some observers, such as Carl Pope (director of the Sierra Club), stated that Hodel had political motives[80] in proposing the study. Required fields are marked *. Before they could break ground at the OShaughnessy Dam, more infrastructure was required. [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". 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). On this point we hold that while we are willing to die for the lives or the health of the citizens of San Francisco, we are not willing to die for their pockets. Hetch Hetchy is unique because of its small holding capacity in comparison to the vast watershed feeding it. Activity 1: Analysis. Once the glaciers retreated, tributaries leading into the main river were left hanging hundreds or thousands of feet above the valley floor, creating the beautiful waterfalls we know today. Her poetic descriptions of Hetch hetchy won her the attention of powerful members of Congress. Due to extreme winter weather, Yosemite National Park is closed with no estimated date of reopening. Like Muir, he was totally transfixed by the Hetch Hetchy Valley. You can expect one (short) email per month. [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. That's about twice the amount of power lost when Hetch Hetchy will be restored. Guests at these suites receive breakfast on their patios. Finally, in 1988, a third generator was added to the Kirkwood Powerhouse. This ballot measure is so problematic that SPUR has taken early action to oppose it. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This is interesting from an ideological perspective. Subsequent proposals for development in our national parks have been defeated by citizen activists inspired by calls to remember Hetch Hetchy. [69], In 1987, the idea of razing the O'Shaughnessy Dam gained an adherent in Don Hodel, Secretary of the Department of the Interior under President Ronald Reagan. Hetch Hetchy and Yosemite Valley are so similar because they were created by the same sequences of geological activity. The entire valley is now flooded under an average 300ft (91m) of water behind the dam, although it occasionally reemerges in droughts, as it did in 1955, 1977, and 1991. Wapama and Rancheria Falls Looking up at Wapama Falls from the footbridge on the hiking trail. [36] Muir's friend Robert Underwood Johnson of the politically influential Century Magazine and several other prominent figures were inspired by Muir's work and helped to get Yosemite National Park established by October 1, 1890. 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. Even before it was finished, the massive . SPUR wholeheartedly agrees that planning for water quality and reliability is important. On returning home, he asked an Indian chief the name of the valley. The SFPUC tests its quality more than 100,000 times a year to ensure that it exceeds all safe drinking water standards. In the Bay Area, Hetch Hetchy water is stored in local facilities including Calaveras Reservoir, Crystal Springs Reservoir, and San Antonio Reservoir. Rancheria Falls itself is a series of whitewater cascades that crashes through a narrow canyon on its way to the reservoir. They also remove water needed for healthy in-stream ecosystems. The restoration of Hetch Hetchy would be a simple task compared to some dam removal efforts. In 1913, Woodrow Wilson appointed Lane his Secretary of the Interior. Franklin Lane served as the attorney for the city of San Francisco in 1903. And, as you might imagine, it produces some of the cleanest municipal water in the United States. 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. 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. Appreciate what nature created and what the city built there long ago. San Francisco applied to the United States Department of the Interior to gain water rights to Hetch Hetchy, and in 1908 President Theodore Roosevelt's Secretary of the Interior, James R. Garfield, granted San Francisco the rights to development of the Tuolumne River. The trail to Wapama Falls is one of the most popular trails in the Hetch Hetchy area for a good reason. Within 50 years, vegetative cover would be complete except for exposed rocky areas. [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. William Howard Taft became president in 1909. California Rep. John E. Raker submitted a bill to Congress granting the city of San Francisco the right to dam the Hetchy Hetchy Valley as a reservoir and also provide the city the right of municipalized electricity as well. It is the source of water for the city of San Francisco. 2023 Yosemite Mariposa County Tourism Bureau, Yosemite Itineraries: What to Do in Yosemite. 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. The dam also provides flood control, irrigation, and water storage along the Colorado River. Muir concludes his treatise on Hetch Hetchy with the now familiar words, "Dam Hetch Hetchy! She says the water first leaves Hetch Hetchy through the O'Shaughnessy Dam. The privately owned Spring Valley Water Company had required its customers to pay exorbitant rates for years. Sign up for the email list and join an active community of monthly readers. Hetch Hetchy ushered in a new era for the national parks. Its a a wonderful place to see spring waterfalls and wildflower displays.