hetch hetchy dam pros and cons
A non-technical solution is one that uses other means such as legislation and education to solve the problems with the commons by changing peoples values or morals (Hardin, 1968, pp. Commons can be either depleted as a source, as in deforestation, or polluted as a sink, as in pollution of the atmosphere (1968, 1245). Robin Meadows covers water for the Monitor. 1244). Which is used for more people. In 2012, Restore Hetch Hetchy placed a measure on the San Francisco ballot that would have required the city to conduct an $8 million study on the impacts of draining the reservoir. Many of these floods are very hard, because they may end up changing their way of flow or the insane amount of damage not only to the Dams and rivers but too the people as well. Today, hetch hetchy valley is a dammed and flooded reservoir. Attraction of tourists. Rosekrans had previously worked at the Environmental Defense Fund, a New York-based environmental advocacy nonprofit, where he was lead author of the 2004 report Paradise Regained: Solutions for Restoring Yosemites Hetch Hetchy Valley. He shows that every contribution is part of the whole nations power by which a difference in history can be. You own barren desert plains and looming jagged mountain peaks. There are already info-structure issues before San Francisco, such as required earthquake retrofits. He is arguing that the conservationist only care about the real dollar cost for the project without consideration for what will be, Environments today that we consider as natural or wilderness are not particularly wild or natural. But there are signs all over Yosemite about not drinking the water because of the Giardia parasites. 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. Important Legacy real-time page. The floor of Yosemite is about 4,000 feet above the sea, the Hetch -Hetchy floor about 3,700; 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. Through his life experience, he then realize sustainability importance, all species have inherent value in the biosphere, humans have no right to reduce this richness and diversity only to satisfy our needs, from the perspective of, John Muir, a naturalist and preservation pioneer of nature took an ethical stand for land ethics when he shared his thoughts that all living things are equally important parts of the land, and animals and plants have as much right to live and survive as people do. Theodore Roosevelt had to send out armies to protect the land and get people to understand the national parks, Yellowstone and Yosemite, that they needed to be treated the right. Though it took a while to respond, they were very cordial. The Don Pedro reservoir, downstream from Hetch Hetchy, on the Tuolumne River, currently has the capacity to hold ALL the water in the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. CONTENT. The pipeline is called the Dakota Access Pipeline project and is being built by the Energy Transfer Partners company. Beautiful reservoir with great views, pristine water. Not only would restoration make Yosemite entire once more, but would also encourage others that we don't have to continue making . Sad to say, this most precious and sublime feature of the Yosemite National Park, one of the greatest of all our natural resources for the uplifting joy and peace and health of the people, is in danger of being dammed and made into a reservoir to help supply San Francisco with water and light, thus flooding it from wall to wall and burying its gardens and groves one or two hundred feet deep. You. Thats not all because the drinking water downstream from DAPL could be affected too, and next thing you know hundreds of thousands of people will. Reservoir releases also generate hydropower that San Francisco uses for . students will explore the divisions this controversy exposed within the conservation movement by using teacher selected documents and text representative of both sides of the debate along with actual records of the congressional hearings held to decide the valley's fate. Hetch-22. These arguments were brought before congress to make a decision about the fate of the valley. Hidden in Yosemite National Park's peaceful northwest corner, Hetch Hetchy Valley is a treasure worth visiting in all seasons. As well dam for water-tanks the peoples cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man. So more people started to stay and the town's population became bigger. Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and its encompassing valley have a mild climate year-round and one of Yosemite's longest hiking . The consciousness of the country with regard to conservation (or, more specifically at that time, preservation) was only just beginning. O'Shaughnessy Dam is a 430-foot (131 m) high concrete arch-gravity dam in Tuolumne County, California, United States.It impounds the Tuolumne River, forming the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir at the lower end of Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park, about 160 miles (260 km) east of San Francisco. : Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1968). That rule applies to Hetch Hetchy water as well. There is a lot of background information about the Keystone as well that it has an environmental and economic impacts. Proceedings before the secretary of the interior. The Hetch Hetchy Railroad (HHRR) was a 68-mile (109 km) standard gauge Class III railroad constructed by the City of San Francisco to support the construction and expansion of the O'Shaughnessy Dam across Hetch Hetchy Valley.. Based in Groveland, the HHRR operated from 1917 to 1949.It primarily carried construction crews and materials, but also took excursion passengers, freight, and mail. He felt that the act conflicted with the conditions of the Yosemite Act of 1890 that made it a park in the first place. They also cannot pass through because there is going to be a dam in there way. Historical photographs show why: like Yosemite Valley, Hetch Hetchy has sheer granite walls that originally rose dramatically from a wide valley floor. But with them building the dam the water level would lower down making it harder to be at a safe distance from the ground. The reason why DAPL is important is because of the fact that it is running over ancient indian land, and not only that it is going over their water source.The clean water the Sioux once had could be gone in just a few months with DAPL going over the standing rocks water (Michael Bennet). I also asked San Francisco Water Public Records the following: Ive been curious about the water purity issue and that one of the features of the Tuolumne River is its purity and that it could be delivered without filtration. They did not so much respond to where they stood on the issue, rather they outlined why they like the system as it is; they shared a previously published flyer: Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System. Learn more Whether to restore Hetch Hetchy will be the subject of a panel discussion Thursday at the Commonwealth Club, with experts from both sides of the debate, including Tom Graff, regional . Building a dam on the tuolumne river at hetch. Ultimately, the difference between preservation and conservation was highlight by the. In todays time, these feuds are highly controversial. Copyright 2014-2023 Yosemite Tales | Powered by WordPress | Design by Starry Night Web Designs. This November, a group of environmental advocates will put forth a ballot measure that would require the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to develop a plan to drain Hetch Hetchy. Its very clean; theres very little sediment. The water is disinfected with ultraviolet light but, in contrast to almost all other reservoirs in the U.S., filtration is not required. Restore Hetch Hetchy is not anti-dam. It lost in a . Thus long ago a few enterprising merchants utilized the Jerusalem temple as a place of business instead of a place of prayer, changing money, buying and selling cattle and sheep and doves; and earlier still; the first forest reservation, including only one tree, was likewise despoiled. Explore hetch hetchy - view hand-curated trail maps and driving directions as well as detailed reviews and photos from hikers, campers and nature lovers like you. Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. However, the steep terrain, sharp curves, and heavy . This is proven through several of documents written by Gifford Pinchot and John Raker, San Francisco District, The yuma project both had positive and negative impacts. Will the San Joaquin River Restoration Project persists of improving or deteriorating Californias drought? in addition, he dedicated four decades of all his knowledge to his community. When Mountain in the Clouds was written, the removal of a huge dam thats been around for years seemed impossible. It was named by Josiah Whitney (after his daughter) in the 1860s. Hetch Hetchy is a valley, a reservoir, and a water system in California in the United States.The glacial Hetch Hetchy Valley lies in the northwestern part of Yosemite National Park and is drained by the Tuolumne River.For thousands of years before the arrival of settlers from the United States in the 1850s, the valley was inhabited by Native Americans who practiced subsistence hunting-gathering. Waterways can be used for transportation purposes. At Congressional hearings on Hetch Hetchy held in 1913, supporters of the plan like Gifford Pinchot, the first Chief Forester of the United States and a noted environmentalist, argued that conservation of natural resources was best achieved through management of the wilderness. The Hetch Hetchy water system includes other reservoirs, and the one in Hetch Hetchy Valley stores only about a quarter of the water San Francisco gets from the Tuolumne River. This grossly destructive commercial scheme has long been planned and urged (though water as pure and abundant can be got from sources outside of the peoples park, in a dozen different places), because of the comparative cheapness of the dam and of the territory which it is sought to divert from the great uses to which it was dedicated in the Act of 1890 establishing the Yosemite National Park. . Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park is seen in 2022. Use the car park at O'Shaughnessy Dam with overnight parking available. Seja bem vindo ao mundo dos esportes . Before the construction of O'Shaughnessy Dam could commence, the city completed a 70-foot (21 m) high dam at Lake Eleanor to provide water for the Early Intake Powerhouse, which was necessary to provide electricity for the construction site of the larger dam. Pinchot would soon face opposition from ranchers and miners that began to hurt his position on conservation. However, the term was really able to come to prominence after economist Garret Hardin invoked the analogy in his 1968 paper Science. The Hetch Hetchy Project controversy brought into sharp relief the difference between conservation and preservation. Do the State and Federal filtration standards that Hetch Hetchy Reservoir meets or exceeds include the standards necessary to eliminate the Giardia parasites? The brought and gave good to yuma and went through the colorado river because yuma was mostly a flood plain at a constant level. Proceedings before the secretary of the interior. 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. But there are signs all over Yosemite about not drinking the water because of the Giardia parasites. In most areas of the country municipal water must be filtered AND treated. Feb 13, 2022. 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. Even the author, Bruce Brown, said I cant say I thought Id live to see the day which goes to show how radical the idea was when he wrote it so many years ago. The dam made irrigation, This year has been really hectic, with protests and elections alike. This dam was planned to be built in Yosemite National Park in order to provide water for the city of San Francisco. Lund estimates that being able to forego filtration saves the SFPUC $1 or $2 billion every year. 9. 1. Get here via Hetch Hetchy Road, which is open during daylight hours. Between 1908 and 1913, congress debated whether to make a water resource available or preserve a wilderness when the growing city of san francisco, california proposed building a dam in the hetch hetchy valley to . With that, San Francisco looses its gravity-fed, filtration-free water source as well as some Hydro-electric generation (at least by a measurable degree). . Building a dam on the Tuolumne River at Hetch Hetchy was fiercely debated when it was proposed in the early 1900s, and the reservoir continues to spark controversy today. Divide the class into four small groups. The reservoir is about a 1-hour drive from both Groveland and Yosemite Village. Why is it so controversial? During the early 1900s there was a large debate in the United States concerning the proposed construction of the Hetch Hetchy dam. The latest twist in this long story has just unfolded, and the final chapter is yet to come. "Dam Hetch Hetchy! At least, not at this time. I see that in July of 2010 an article on SFGATE.com (by Kelly Zito of the Chronicle at http://www.sfgate.com/green/article/Anti-dam-group-questions-Hetch-Hetchy-water-3257983.php), expressed that same concern. Some people are outraged by the pipeline because it contributes to man-made climate change. He also gives the specific dilemma that, The Hetchy Dam controversy of the early 1900s was a debate that shaped how America has dealt with the environment since. The Hetch Hetchy Dam is destroying a piece of land that is the homes of multiple types of animals. It is my goal to use this site to share, not only my experiences and photos, but also some of its history and the tales of those who forged it. So San Francisco won the day, fair and square. But changing the system would be jaw-droppingly expensive. In 1961 they all participated in an expansion of the reservoir creating a larger dam increasing storage from just short of 300,000 acre-feet to a bit over 2,000,000 acre-feet. 2. Considering Glen Coles statement in A New Environmental Ethics on Yellowstone National Park, The primary purpose of Yellowstone National Park is to preserve natural ecosystems, In his journal he makes it clear between his distinction of conservation and sustainable use. yosemite national park. Located more than 900 metres (3,000 feet) above sea level, the Hetch Hetchy site offered a good storage location in the Sierra Nevada for water that could be delivered without pumping to San Francisco via an aqueduct nearly . Other supporters of the appeal include the State Water Resources Control Board. Copyright 2023 IPL.org All rights reserved. Hetch Hetchy is unique because of its small holding capacity in comparison to the vast watershed feeding it. JI & SP: Today, Hetch Hetchy Valley is a dammed and flooded reservoir. HETCH HETCHY RES A HETCH HETCHY CA. Your 50025 word paper should: Read each of the articles on the uploaded file. It was originally posted in June 2015. Pros and cons of allowing the Hetch Hetchy Dam to remain in place; Controversy surrounding removal of the Hetch Hetchy Dam; and ; Your position on whether the Hetchy Hetchy Dam should be removed or not. Building a dam on the tuolumne river at hetch. The Hetch Hetchy Valley was within Yosemite National Park and . Dams provide us with a source of clean energy. For example, in the spring/summer of 1905, an insane flood hit the lower part of the river as a flash flood. . 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 Natures rarest and most precious mountain temples. . The club continues opening National Parks, building monuments and dams in rivers and protecting the sequoia trees in many other parks (The Sierra Club). The river later turned away flowing West, and led into the Southern California Salton Sink river. I imagine a meadow, dotted with oak, pine, and fir trees, and with the Tuolumne River meandering through it, said Rosekrans, executive director of Restore Hetch Hetchy, a Berkeley-based nonprofit. Brown mentions many ways to fix the ever growing problem at hand, and at the time, most seemed very radical. They would lose about 20% of their hydropower. On the other hand, there is also the collective interest, which is the concern for what is best for the society so that the commons can be preserved and maintained for future generations (Hardin, 1968, pp. Mountain in the Clouds showed clearly the problems that are occurring and opens peoples eyes to. Their system is mostly gravity driven, and it would remain so. Amid a worsening drought, the Bay Area's water supplies are in good shape. Encountered a bear meandering down the trail towards us about a 1/2 mile from the fork to go up left . When Spreck Rosekrans visits Hetch Hetchy the valley in Yosemite National Park that San Francisco turned into a reservoir nearly a century ago he looks beyond what is. The pipeline is essentially the fourth step of the Keystone Pipeline System. Although Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is the most well-known, it stores less than 25% of the system's water. We havent built a major dam in this state since 1979, McClintock said. 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, lift them to the Almighty Dollar. Up to 24% cash back position: Righter, oxford university press, 2005, chapter 1 the uses of the valley,. Basically, this is a debate between ecocentric people and anthropocentric people. Yuma's irrigation in the past was horrible but has gotten better throughout the years. This river connects with the Colorado River as well, and now flows into Southern California 100 yards north of the US Mexico border. Whether or not it has first been filtered, public water must then be treated to achieve a 99.99% reduction in pathogens. Hetch Hetchy water travels 160 miles via gravity from . List of the Advantages of Dams. One of the most positives outcomes was that came from the control of the colorado river was that the crops were able to be saved because the unpredictable floods were no longer occurring. The Sierra Club is one of the original opponents of flooding Hetch Hetchy, calling it the greatest blemish in our national parks, and the organizations former executive director David Brower recommended that Rosekrans lead an effort to restore the valley. Hetch Hetchy is just 15 miles north of Yosemite Valley and the two are often called twins. Ive tried to be fair in the presentation of the issue, but have made clear which side of the fence I daggle my feet. I snapped my first photograph in Yosemite December 24, 1979. Carter uses phrases such as most unforgettable and humbling experience, flooded with life, and once-in-a-lifetime wild life spectacle to describe the true beauty of nature for which the reader can relate to. Which gave it more attention so more people came through and check it out. Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, California, USA. Guess who owns millions of acres of American wildlands? I welcome comments on this post (as I do on anything posted). As pollution and environmental destruction become a more imminent threat, humans must control their use of energy, preferably making sure not to use more than is necessary to sustain them. It is hard NOT to get inspired by the beauty of this park. A decade later the O'Shaughnessy Dam, the second largest civil engineering project of its day after the Panama Canal, was completed. And Im in favor of that. The Hetch Hetchy Dam is the name of a popular reservoir and water system in the state of California. The story about the Hetch Hetchy Railroad, built in the 1910s and 1920s to bring the construction crews and materials needed to build the dam, hydroelectric plants, and aqueducts is very interesting if you like history and maps.After completion of the dam in 1923, the HHRR was used to carry tourists and mail to the Northern Yosemite area. It started with some basic facts; that it stores up to 117 billion gallons of drinking water; it is a clean, efficient water delivery system for 2.6 million residents daily; and it generates 1.6 billion kilowatt hours of clean hydroelectric power annually. The responsibility for alleviating the situation fell on the department of the Interiors Bureau of Reclamation. Pg.11 They noticed how bad the situation was so they tried stopping it. Building a dam on the Tuolumne River at Hetch . Find Hetch Hetchy Dam stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. Leopold grew up in the 1800s when the railroads were being built and all the forests were being cut down to make room for them. In addition, if the building of two roads were to go near or go through a body of water they would harm the environment of the salmon. This would also mean that park of the national park would be flooded destroying the forest and nature living in the valley.The common view among americans was that is was in the most part for the greater good. In addition, Nash continues his article by giving facts about the water in Texas being glutted with run-off from centers of population, factories and farms that all alter the chemical constitution of water (3) creating a deeper predicament for the people in Texas. Hetch Hetchy captures snowmelt that runs off granite, Ritchie said. The regional water system provides water to 2.4 million people in San Francisco, Santa Clara, Alameda and San Mateo counties. So the water is officially considered to be safer than most water sources, but not safe to drink unfiltered and untreated. Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is one of 9 reservoirs in the system. All these iconic wild places are part of your "great American backyard." SOLUTIONS. Photo by Isaiah West Taber. That said, the board does not support either side in the Hetch Hetchy debate. This fight set the stage for future battles between those who believed natural resources were to be used for the greatest good versus . Some negative impacts to yuma is from the steamboat business. For example, raising a dam on another reservoir in the system could flood another stretch of the Tuolumne River that, while outside Yosemite National Park, is designated as a national Wild and Scenic River. Its going to be used to transport oil to the United States from Canada. In the end Congress chose management over aesthetics, voting 43-25 (with 29 abstentions) to allow the Hetch Hetchy dam on federal land. The issue at the time was should a portion of the public lands be given up as a right-of-way for San Francisco, et al, to store and transport water? San Francisco's water-bank in Don Pedro Reservoir, downstream on the Tuolumne River, holds twice as much water as Hetch Hetchy. of 3. 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. RestoreHetch Hetchy Valley. SOLUTIONS. Which means we lose more money. The very idea that a dam and a reservoir was allowed and constructed within a National Park is repugnant. Due to its high-altitude location at 3,900 feet above sea level and its snowmelt-fed water supply, water from Hetch . NEXT. The two sides include Preservationists who wanted to preserve Hetch Hetchy and Conservationist who believed that we should take advantage of the resources Hetch Hetchy provides. I asked them where they stood on the issue of restoring Hetch Hetchy Valley. He argued that conservationists only wished to dam Hetch Hetchy as it would be low cost and saw no value in its natural state. It pitted a powerful city against a dedicated group of conservationists. The debate 100 years ago was technically and, as it happens, critically won by san francisco. A rational person will always follow their individual interests unless their portion of the cost of collective interests is more than the cost of their individual interests. In a state wracked with drought, the Hetch Hetchy is an exception to the rule. Ultimately, passage of the passage of the Raker Act in 1913 by Congress granted San Francisco the right to flood the Hetch Hetchy Valley. Historical photographs show why: like Yosemite Valley, Hetch Hetchy has sheer granite walls that originally rose dramatically from a wide valley floor. We can produce power from dams because of the kinetic energy of the water movements as it causes turbines to spin. John Muir believed that nature was an example of the power of god and creation, and that the use of nature through management was an act of defamation. However, not until 1987 under President Reagan did hope resurfaced that we may actually get it back. Ultimately, pro-reservoir forces won, and in 1913 Congress passed the Raker Act, which granted San . When the gold rush happen they put yuma on the map. 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. What Are The Pros And Cons Of Hydraulic Fracturing 292 Words | 2 Pages . In re applications of A. H. Ward and Mariposa electrical . In the end Congress chose management over aesthetics, voting 4325 (with 29 abstentions) to allow the Hetch Hetchy dam on federal land. The Hetch Hetchy Project controversy brought into sharp relief the difference between conservation and preservation. As Leopold moves along in A Sand County Almanac, the reader finally understands the full scale of thought that is placed in front of them. The Sierra Club gained 1,000 members by 1908 and from them on continued to rise. danitza athanassiadis biography; statute of limitations on traffic tickets in california; craigslist low income apartments for rent. In the past there was always flood incidents due to the river being uncontrolled and overflowing. 3. Wilderness is a type of protection given to the most pristine wildlands left on Earth areas within national parks, forests, recreation areas and other wildlands where there are no roads or development. For Restore Hetch Hetchy, however, the overriding concern is righting what they see as a historical wrong to an iconic national park. Rainer National Park and Glacier National Park. There is no question in my mind that historical precedence goes to San Francisco in keeping the reservoir right where it is. I would never put Hetch Hetchy where it is, but the fix itself would be destructive somewhere else, said Laura Tam, sustainable development policy director of SPUR, a San Francisco-based nonprofit dedicated to urban planning in the Bay Area. USA.gov, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration Fortunately, humans have governments that will manage our areas of natural wilderness. (Hook. India. Energy for northern california would be provided. John Muir was the main proponent for the preservationists. Since then, support and action has grown to the point that some studies have been made on the subject, a whole organization, Restore Hetch Hetchy (HetchHetchy.org), has materialize to champion its cause, and currently there is even a law suit working through the courts to force San Francisco to take the subject more seriously.