As well dam for water-tanks the peoples cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man . They also remove water needed for healthy in-stream ecosystems. The dam and reservoir, combined with a series of aqueducts, tunnels, and hydroelectric plants as well as eight other storage dams, comprise a system known as the Hetch Hetchy Project, which provides 80% of the water supply for 2.6 million people. Standing upon it will give you the chance to appreciate the sublimity of both nature and human achievement. 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? 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. A) 5 billion B . Above all, one's behavior Argument Against The Hetchy Dam 587 Words | 3 Pages In spite of Muirs eloquent and heated objections, the Raker Act was signed into law in December of 1913. Rancheria Falls itself is a series of whitewater cascades that crashes through a narrow canyon on its way to the reservoir. Hetch Hetchy - Yosemite National Park (U.S. National Park Service) As the battle lines were drawn, the different methods employed by each side in presenting their case spoke to some of their basic assumptions about the nature of the issue. The SFPUC and other Hetch Hetchy users are currently implementing plans to meet this demand through recycled water, groundwater and conservation. 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 That's about twice the amount of power lost when Hetch Hetchy will be restored. During summer, people of the Miwok and Paiute came to Hetch Hetchy from the Central Valley in the west and the Great Basin in the east. 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. Photo: Theresa Ho, Of course, the proposal was immediately opposed by environmentalists including the Sierra Club and John Muir. Some hydro-power dams withhold and then release water to generate power for peak demand periods, which is particularly disruptive to migrating fish. Appreciate what nature created and what the city built there long ago. 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. The first Moccasin Powerhouse in Moccasin, California began commercial operation in 1925 followed by the Holm Powerhouse in 1960 (the same month the Early Intake Powerhouse was taken out of service). Spring and early summer bring wildflowers including lupine, wallflower, monkey flower, and buttercup. It is the primary water source for about 2.5 million residents of the San Francisco Bay Area. Hetch Hetchy Dome, at 6,197ft (1,889m), lies directly north of it. As the Hetch Hetchy Valley was part of Yosemite National Park, Hitchcock preferred to protect the parks natural wonders. The Hetch Hetchy Dam is destroying a piece of land that is the homes of multiple types of animals. A large part of today's incentive for restoration is that when the dam and the Hetch Hetchy reservoir were authorized by President Woodrow Wilson in 1913, as the Raker Act, the Hetch Hetchy Valley . 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. Mirror Lakes famous spring-time reflections capture the eye and mind. RELATED: Meet The Real Life Batman & Robin Of The National Parks. If the dam were not to be built, it would only benefit the small percentage of Americans who actually visited the site and were concerned about the park's pristine condition. The other route begins at the entrance station and is 16 miles round-trip with 3,300 feet of elevation gain. Even if we could obtain the several billion dollars necessary to carry out this endeavor (neither private nor public sources have yet been identified) some of the tasks involved may not even be possible. "[32], In 1867, Charles F. Hoffman of the California Geological Survey conducted the first survey of the valley. A national debate ensued between the preservationist and conservationist factions of the young environmental movement. Could you imagine building a dam inside a national park today? In 2019, Restore Hetch Hetchy commissioned another study that found enormous recreational value from removing the dam. Teams completed the OShaughnessy Dam in 1923 and the reservoir filled for the first time in May of that year. As Muir famously protested: Dam Hetch Hetchy? "Dam Hetch Hetchy!": John Muir Contests the Hetch-Hetchy Dam 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 doesnt need to be filtered, a process that is expensive and energy intensive. In 1913, Woodrow Wilson appointed Lane his Secretary of the Interior. This reservoir on the Sacramento River has been planned for decades What Happens When You Remove a Dam? - Hetch Hetchy Reservoir [8], While its cousin Yosemite Valley to the south had permanent Miwok settlements,[25] Hetch Hetchy was only seasonally inhabited. San Francisco Mayor James Phelan led the fight to build a dam at Hetch Hetchy. And in a larger sense, the waters of California served as the converting agents. 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 [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. [5] Chief Tenaya of the Yosemite Valley's Ahwaneechee tribe claimed that Hetch Hetchy was Miwok for "Valley of the Two Trees", referring to a pair of yellow pines that once stood at the head of Hetch Hetchy. OShaughnessy Dam and the waterworks that connect it to the Bay Area are a marvel of engineering. The spacious rooms include access to a heated swimming pool, spa, playground, and laundry facilities. Have you been to Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite? [45], The controversy over Hetch Hetchy was in the context of other political scandals and controversies, especially prevalent in the Taft administration. In 2007, in approving the environmental impact report for the Water System Improvement Program an investment of more than $4 billion to shore up the seismic reliability of the Hetch Hetchy water system the SFPUC gave itself, and its wholesale customers on the peninsula, ten years to develop a plan that would identify reliable alternative sources of water to meet the regions future growth in demand, rather than diverting more water from the Tuolumne River. [2] The dam and reservoir are the centerpiece of the Hetch Hetchy Project, which in 1934 began to deliver water 167 miles (269km) west to San Francisco and its client municipalities in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. As well dam for water-tanks the people's cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man. 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. [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. The idea of punching a hole in or removing the dam and allowing the valley to be restored to its pre-development conditions has been around since the late 1980s. Copyright © 2023 More Than Just Parks | This post may contain affiliate links - read our Standards, Corrections, & Privacy Policy. [77][78], The economic wisdom of removing the dam has been frequently questioned. This valley was isolated and remote, twenty miles northwest of the original. The larger issues at stake would frame environmental debates for years to come. [63] The city justified this as a temporary measure, but no attempt to follow through with completing the municipal grid was ever made. While youre at it, plan to add to the historic flavor of this route with a stop the Northern Mariposa County History Center. It is the source of water for the city of San Francisco. 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. [57] Pipelines 3 and 4 end at the Pulgas Water Temple, a small park that contains classical architectural elements which celebrate the water delivery. Hetch Hetchy: Time to Redeem a Historic Mistake - Sierra Club The trail to Wapama Falls is one of the most popular trails in the Hetch Hetchy area for a good reason. [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 Valley was once home to a richly diverse ecosystem, surrounded by towering cliffs and waterfalls similar to those in neighboring Yosemite Valley.
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