benefits of hetch hetchy dam

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. Building a dam there was off the table. If youre especially in the mood to relax and let yourself be taken care of, The Blackberry Inn is a luxury bed and breakfast situated on 36 acres and surrounded by National Forest land. (Read SPURs analysis of this plan.) Before they could break ground at the OShaughnessy Dam, more infrastructure was required. 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.. 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. [8], Before damming, the valley floor contained abundant stands of black oaks, live oak, Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, and silver fir bordering the meadows, with alder, willow, poplar and dogwood in the riparian zone along the Tuolumne River. "[32], In 1867, Charles F. Hoffman of the California Geological Survey conducted the first survey of the valley. The locations of these two formations roughly correspond with those of Cathedral Rocks and El Capitan seen from Tunnel View in Yosemite Valley. [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). [13], Hetch Hetchy is home to a diverse array of plants and animals. Have all students read the debate overview and page one of the HR 7207, the "Raker Bill". RELATED: Meet The Real Life Batman & Robin Of The National Parks. 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. 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. Second, dams slow rivers. "Dam Hetch Hetchy!" - I Take History Franklin Lane served as the attorney for the city of San Francisco in 1903. benefits of hetch hetchy dam. The city must pay a lease of $30,000 per year for the use of Hetch Hetchy, which sits on federal land. "Hetch Hetchy is a grand landscape garden, one of nature's rarest and most precious mountain temples. This is also a place imbued with history: San Franciscos congressional delegation won the right to build the dam in 1913, to secure a reliable source of water in the wake of the 1906 earthquake. Albert Bierstadt was known for his sweeping landscapes of the American West. 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. Watershed Worker (Summer, 2023) - Hetch Hetchy Water & Power (Moccasin) - SFPUC (7542) Job at City and County of San Francisco in Moccasin. In the autumn of 1871, John Muir visited Hetch Hetchy for the first time. [54] The entire system produces about 1.7 billion kilowatt hours per year, enough to meet 20% of San Francisco's electricity needs. (In fact partially because it is so difficult and destructive to build large dams, we are running out of new supplies of water in California.) Smith Peak (7,751 feet) is the highest point in the area and offers outstanding views. 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. Richard Ballinger was appointed his Interior Secretary. Watershed Worker (Summer, 2023) - Hetch Hetchy Water & Power (Moccasin 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. What part should mountains, rivers, natural meadows or wild creatures play in American life? O'Shaughnessy Dam (California) - Wikipedia Photo: Chris Migeon Yet environmentalists have dreamed of restoring the dramatic valley along the Tuolumne River, which was filled in by the lake when the dam was built in 1938 under the New Deal. Hetch Hetchy, located at 3,900 feet in Yosemite National Park, is one of the park's most popular hiking . All offers, including but not limited to, bonus amenities, upgrades, prices, and group benefits are based on select dates, resorts, room categories, and/or fare codes. Only a tiny proportion of Yosemites visitors explore this out-of-the-way corner of the national park. This trail is 13 miles round-trip with 3,700 feet elevation gain. Second, the sanctity of the national parks which they believed should not be violated. 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. 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. Amid a worsening drought, water supplies at one important reservoir are 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. 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. Animals were principally driven along Joseph Screech's trail from Big Oak Flat to Hetch Hetchy. These clean and comfortable rooms also enjoy access to the pool, spa and other facilities at Yosemite Westgate Lodge. Copyright © 2023 More Than Just Parks | This post may contain affiliate links - read our Standards, Corrections, & Privacy Policy. [49], The narrow defile at the lower end of Hetch Hetchy Valley where San Francisco planned to dam the Tuolumne River, seen in 1914 before construction began, The same area seen today, with O'Shaughnessy Dam and Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, Hetch Hetchy Valley serves as the primary water source for the City and County of San Francisco and several surrounding municipalities in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Hetch Hetchy Water & Power plans five-year $140M Mountain Tunnel Denouncing dam proponents as greedy, he wrote, These temple destroyers, devotees of ravaging commercialism, seem to have a perfect contempt for Nature, and instead of lifting their eyes to the God of the Mountains, life them to the Almighty Dollar. The deciding factor was whether or not the land in question had access to water. In terms of quality, Hetch Hetchy water is so pristine that it is one of only a handful of water supplies in the country that doesn't need to be filtered, a process that is expensive and energy intensive. Muir observed:[3]. [4] A broad, low rocky outcrop situated between Kolana Rock and Hetch Hetchy Dome divided the former meadow in two distinct sections. The second concept is preservation. It then cascades on its westward descent through the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne, and enters the eastern end of Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. They would light upon a man's blue shirt and turn it brown, and were voracious as mosquitoes would be. However, the same NPS study also finds that with intensive management, an outcome in which "the entire valley would appear much as it did before construction of the reservoir" is feasible. 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. The extensive amount of storage, which is designed to benefit the Bay Area as droughts become more severe with climate. The SFPUC tests its quality more than 100,000 times a year to ensure that it exceeds all safe drinking water standards. We have historic photographs to remind us of what Hetch Hetchy Valley looked like before the dam was built. Two additional reservoirs in the Hetch Hetchy RegionLake Eleanor and Lake Lloyd (also 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. Worth a Dam? - Earth Island Journal Not to be outdone by Los Angeles, San Francisco had a greater feat in mind: dam the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park and pipe the water into San Francisco. Apply Today! Swimming and boating are prohibited in Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in order to maintain a clean source of drinking water. The dam in the Hetch Hetchy valley of Yosemite National Park, first proposed in 1908, was intended to create a reservoir that would provide water and electricity for the burgeoning city of San Francisco. The Sites Reservoir a $4.4 billion project to add dams and store more water that'll be sent south is still years away from completion. Owned by the city of San Francisco, Hetch Hetchy Reservoir provides water to 2.7 million residents and businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area. The most prominent preservationist spokesman was John Muir.. While opponents of the dam were hard pressed for financial support, the city of San Franciscos campaign was well financed. The Fight for Hetch Hetchy | Environment & Society Portal The Hetch Hetchy Valley was within Yosemite National Park and protected by the federal government, leaving it up to Congress to decide the valley's fate. For functional purposes, Hetch Hetchy was a promising solution to San Francisco's serious water shortages. Before damming, the high granite formations produced a valley with an average depth of 1,800ft (550m) and a maximum depth of over 3,000ft (910m); the length of the valley was 3mi (4.8km) with a width ranging from .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}18 to 12 mile (660 to 2,640ft; 200 to 800m). Photo: Theresa Ho, Of course, the proposal was immediately opposed by environmentalists including the Sierra Club and John Muir. Building the Hetch Hetchy dam in such a remote location was an enormous project. And it is the largest single source of water supply for the Bay Area. 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. "[34], When Yosemite Valley became part of a state park in 1864, Hetch Hetchy received no such designation. Yosemite's Hetch Hetchy Water Wars - Yosemite National Park Trips [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 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 surface of the water hides an additional 300 feet of granite cliffs and once-upon-a-time waterfalls within its depths. Congress would decide the fate of the Hetchy Hetchy Valley. 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. Pipelines 1 and 2 cross the San Francisco Bay to the south of the Dumbarton Bridge, while pipelines 3 and 4 run to the south of the bay. 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. Instead, the magnificence of a valley often described as Yosemite Valleys slightly smaller twin takes center stage. 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. Hetch Hetchy Valley was once home to a richly diverse ecosystem, surrounded by towering cliffs and waterfalls similar to those in neighboring Yosemite Valley. 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. 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. 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). Other trails also continue to Lake Vernon. Gravel, logs, and other important food and habitat features can become trapped. The waterfall on the Tuolumne is now submerged under Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. 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 you want to follow the old railroad line today, the Hetch Hetchy Road and most of the Mather Road were built on the old railroad bed and are beautiful scenic drives as well. By 1908, a different Interior Secretary, James R. Garfield, sided with the utilitarian conservationists and issued a permit for the Hetch Hetchy project. "[19], People have lived in Hetch Hetchy Valley for over 6,000 years. OPTION 3Give control to the local people of Hetch Hetchy The Hetch Hetchy dam would still be as naturally beautiful as it was before when it was preserved, and along with that, the construction of the dam will benefit the greatest number of. Through the manipulation of water, the company also had the power to determine which real estate became valuable and which languished. The Hetch Hetchy Valley is about 8 miles (13 km) from Yosemite Valley. Have you been to Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite? 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. From 1901 - 1913, John Muir led the Sierra Club in a campaign to protect the Hetch Hetchy Valley, a part of Yosemite National Park, from being filled by a reservoir. By Posted student houses falmouth 2021 In jw marriott panama concierge lounge People have died after being swept off the bridge and onto the rocks below. There are many places to stop and enjoy views of the rushing water before turning around to return to your car. It is 13 miles from the Yosemite National Park border and twice as close to the park than the town of Groveland. The main power facility in the system, the Moccasin Powerhouse, began commercial operation on August 14, 1925. This 1910 view shows Kolana Rock and Tueeulala Falls in the background. Spring snowmelt runs down the Tuolumne River and fills Hetch Hetchy, the largest reservoir in our water system. As the Hetch Hetchy Valley was part of Yosemite National Park, Hitchcock preferred to protect the park's natural wonders. Giving a Dam: Congress Debates Hetch Hetchy - George Mason University A) 5 billion B . [16], Compared with Yosemite Valley, the walls of Hetch Hetchy are smoother and rounder because it was glaciated to a greater extent. In the Bay Area, Hetch Hetchy water is stored in local facilities including Calaveras Reservoir, Crystal Springs Reservoir, and San Antonio Reservoir. a strong proponent of restoring Hetch Hetchy Valley and Senator Feinstein is still[when?] Yet it also highlighted the division within the conservation movement over two fundamental principles: utilitarian conservation versus preservation.

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