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. For John Muir, it was about preserving a natural wonder which could be enjoyed by generations to come. [59] The water quality is high because of the unique geology of the upper Tuolumne River drainage basin, which consists mostly of bare granite; as a result, the rivers feeding Hetch Hetchy Reservoir have extremely low loads of sediments and nutrients. As the Hetch Hetchy Valley was part of Yosemite National Park, Hitchcock preferred to protect the park's natural wonders. [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. The glacial Hetch Hetchy Valley lies in the northwestern part of Yosemite National Park and is drained by the Tuolumne River. Gravel, logs, and other important food and habitat features can become trapped. [21] Miwok names are still used for features, including Tueeulala Fall, Wapama Fall, and Kolana Rock. 2023 Yosemite Mariposa County Tourism Bureau, Yosemite Itineraries: What to Do in Yosemite. 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. Copyright © 2023 More Than Just Parks | This post may contain affiliate links - read our Standards, Corrections, & Privacy Policy. It is 13 miles from the Yosemite National Park border and twice as close to the park than the town of Groveland. GROVELAND,CA San Francisco may be required to pay more rent to the federal government for water from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir or even tear down the O'Shaughnessy Dam. 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. As the grazing of livestock damaged native plants in the Hetch Hetchy Valley, mountaineer and naturalist John Muir pressed for the protection of both valleys under a single national park. Plus, they needed a way to bring supplies and workers into the mountains. The city must pay a lease of $30,000 per year for the use of Hetch Hetchy, which sits on federal land. Most people turn around here anyway. The trail includes spectacular views of Tueeulala and Wapama Falls. Glaciers followed these low-points, leaving their own marks in particular carving out the characteristic U-shaped valley with steep sides and wide floor. Muir predicted that this lake would create an unsightly "bathtub ring" around its perimeter, caused by the water's destruction of lichen growth on the canyon walls,[44] which would inevitably be visible at low lake levels. In an effort to build this support, he published his bookThe Yosemitein 1912. What part should mountains, rivers, natural meadows or wild creatures play in American life? A recent report evaluates the economic benefits of restoring Hetch Hetchy Valley. Gifford Pinchot wanted the U.S Forest Service to control the parks, but after his support to dam Hetchy Hetchy, Congress voted in 1916 to to establish the National Park Service whose sole purpose was "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the . Finally, in 1988, a third generator was added to the Kirkwood Powerhouse. The dam is a small portion of the overall Tuolumne River/San Francisco storage system that benefits the Bay Area. If youre up for a driving adventure, try taking a little extra time to retrace parts of the route John Muir described in his book, My First Summer in the Sierra. 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. 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. Such new supplies are not guaranteed to have the low greenhouse gas emissions profile that Hetch Hetchy water and power do and they could worsen climate change while increasing our vulnerability to it. For example, plan to stop at the Lucky Buck Cafe on your way to or from a day of exploring Yosemite. This 1910 view shows Kolana Rock and Tueeulala Falls in the background. Learn what to expect from Mirror Lake in various seasons. But Hetch Hetchy was a federally protected as part of Yosemite National Park. To get the electricity they would need, they first built a smaller dam at Lake Eleanor. [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 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. Since the valley was within Yosemite National Park, an act of Congress was needed to authorize the project. The dam and reservoir are the source for the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct, which provides water for over . Hetch Hetchy ushered in a new era for the national parks. [8], While its cousin Yosemite Valley to the south had permanent Miwok settlements,[25] Hetch Hetchy was only seasonally inhabited. Plus, the granite walls converge into a narrow outlet at the bottom of the valley the perfect location for a dam. It is part of our More than Just Parks Environmental Heroes series. It was the second tallest dam in the U.S. at the time. . Wapama Fall is reached via a five-mile, round-trip hike that follows the shoreline of the reservoir with moderate up and downhill hiking. Winter weather conditions may cause road closures. Fourth, dams alter water quality. 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. And it is the largest single source of water supply for the Bay Area. . [12] During the last glacial period, the Tioga Glacier[13] formed from extensive icefields in the upper Tuolumne River watershed; between 110,000 and 10,000 years ago Hetch Hetchy Valley was sculpted into its present shape by repeated advance and retreat of the ice, which also removed extensive talus deposits that may have accumulated in the valley since the Sherwin period. There is a third concept, too, though it was little understood at the time. They would light upon a man's blue shirt and turn it brown, and were voracious as mosquitoes would be. Construction of O'Shaughnessy Dam began in 1919 and was finished in 1923, with the reservoir first filling in May of that year. [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. [30] After the valley's native inhabitants were driven out by the newcomers, it was used by ranchers, many of whom were former miners, to graze livestock. So the idea of planning for new water supplies need not be on the ballot. [citation needed], The Hetch Hetchy Valley began as a V-shaped river canyon cut out by the ancestral Tuolumne River. This is a place considered by John Muir to be equal in beauty to Yose. Related. Friday, enjoy an evening about bats starting at 7 pm. Specialty pricing may require . Pinchot was Americas Forester. He served as the first head of the United States Forest Service. Photo: Kim Lawson. Without Hetch Hetchy as its primary reservoir, San Francisco will be forced to pump and filter its water for the first time in a century, and lose out on the 726 million kilowatt-hours produced by . There, he met the same Indian chief and his wives. This time, in favor of those who wanted to build the dam. In 2019, Restore Hetch Hetchy commissioned another study that found enormous recreational value from removing the dam. [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. 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. [2] Historians of the American conservation movement regard Pinchot as the foremost exemplar of the utilitarian approach to conservation, according to which man has a right to use natural resources, but also an obligation to use them wisely and efficientlyor as the classic criterion put it, the greatest good for the greatest number over the long run. As applied to forests and espoused by Pinchot, this meant that the nations forest reserves ought not to be maintained as inviolate sanctuaries, but opened to enlightened management.. The Tuolumne River, the source of. On December 19, 1913, Congress passed and President Wilson signed the Raker Act which permitted the building of the OShaughnessy Dam and the flooding of the Hetch Hethcy Valley in Yosemite National Park. SPUR Urban Center, 654 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94105-4015 | (415) 781-8726 | [emailprotected], 2023 SPUR Privacy Policy 501(C)(3) Non-Profit Tax Identification: 94-1498232, a member-supported nonprofit organization. Apply Today! [31], During this time, the upper Tuolumne River, including Hetch Hetchy Valley, was visited by prospectors attracted by the California Gold Rush. The . That's about twice the amount of power lost when Hetch Hetchy will be restored. 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. 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. "[22], The valley's name may be derived from a Miwok word earlier anglicized as hatchhatchie, which means "edible grasses"[8][23] or "magpie". It is the source of water for the city of San Francisco. Due to large cataracts on the Tuolumne River upstream, Hetch Hetchy Valley may have been in the uppermost range for native rainbow trout in the river. It is spectacular: a miles-long placid blue lake nested within towering granite cliffs, from which waterfalls cascade. Then, well need to weigh our options for other new large water supplies, all of which will have enormous environmental tradeoffs: think of building a desalination plant, fighting with Los Angeles over the Sacramento Delta, building a peripheral canal or siting new large dams in presently undammed Sierra mountains and foothills. This is because the Tuolumne catchment basin above Hetch Hetchy is almost three times as large as the catchment area of the Merced River above Yosemite, allowing a greater volume of ice to form. The gently rolling terrain has excellent views of the water and eye-catching Kolana Rock, which towers roughly 2,000 feet above. 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. As the Hetch Hetchy Valley was part of Yosemite National Park, Hitchcock preferred to protect the parks natural wonders. Albert Bierstadt was known for his sweeping landscapes of the American West. If, on the other hand, San Francisco gained control, it would signal in important victory for public power resulting in lower rates for the people. [41], In 1906, after a major earthquake and subsequent fire that devastated San Francisco, the inadequacy of the city's water system was made tragically clear. 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. [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. There is plenty to see and do right here, from kayaking on the water to climbing the magnificent domes above. The O'Shaughnessy Dam is near Yosemite's western boundary, but the long, narrow, fingerlike reservoir stretches eastward for about 8 miles (13km). As surely as forests provided timber, so did they provide beauty, inspiration, and the renewal of over-citified spirits. Hetch Hetchy, for the time being, was safe, and it would not be inundated during Roosevelts watch.. Next to John Muir, the most vocal defender of the Hetch Hetchy Valley was Harriet Monroe. Hetch Hetchy Valley is a treasure worth visiting. Public disapproval nationwide with the Raker Act helped to bring about the creation of the National Park Service. Horace Albright, the second director of the National Park Service, wrote that Franklin Lanes appointment to the cabinet was made specifically for the purpose of pushing this [Hetch Hetchy project], the so-called Raker-Pittman Bill. (Source: The Battle Over Hetch Hetchy, Robert W. Righter). . [14] At maximum extent, Tioga Glacier may have been 60mi (97km) long and up to 4,000ft (1,200m) thick, filling Hetch Hetchy Valley to the brim and spilling over the sides, carving out the present rugged plateau country to the north and southwest. Would that be an improvement? As a consequence, visitors came to experience it for themselves. Exactly how San Francisco won the right to transform the bucolic valley into a 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. Dianne Feinstein, the mayor of San Francisco at the time, said in a Los Angeles Times story in 1987: "All this is for an expanded campground? Visitors might still need chains to get down Evergreen Road this time of year, but a trip to Hetch Hetchy reveals an example of the potent storms, and a reservoir of controversy for 100 years. ", "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? He discovered it a few of years later. Hetch Hetchy is the incredible story of Americas most controversial dam and the birth of the environmental movement. In Yosemite National Park, the Hetch Hetchy reservoir relies on the annual snowmelt to stay full. Five country-chic rooms in the main building include en suite bathrooms, free WiFi and electric fireplaces. The Hetch Hetchy Reservoir created by the dam has a capacity of 360,400acreft (0.4445km3), with a maximum area of 1,972 acres (798ha) and a maximum depth of 306 feet (93m). Hetch Hetchy is on the main stem of the Tuolumne River and is part of the Tuolumne watershed. Earn $27.3125 per hour. 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. High temperatures prevail in summer months, but its a small price to pay for the reward of vast wilderness filled with stunning peaks, hidden canyons, and remote lakes. The bustling metropolis of Los Angeles could not have become the city it did without the water which flowed from the Owens Valley hundreds of miles away. strongly against restoration. Put another way, if Congress denied the city of San Francisco the Hetch Hetchy Valley, the California Progressive leaders suspected that it would only be a matter of time before the emerging Pacific Gas and Electric Company would grab the area. The O'Shaughnessy Dam was completed in 1923 and, after the . Dam Hetch Hetchy! Second, dams slow rivers. For instance, the WET company helps people see the beauty of water through magnificent water fountains. Hetch Hetchy water serves residents in four Bay Area counties, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Southern Alameda. Building a dam there was off the table. 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. Another popular trail crosses the OShaughnessy Dam and then takes a left turn to climb steeply out of the Hetch Hetchy valley. 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. Photo: Chris Migeon Rounding the corner and catching the first glimpses of Hetch Hetchy Valley reveals the play of light on water. [42] This provoked a seven-year environmental struggle with the environmental group Sierra Club, led by John Muir. 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 Guests at these suites receive breakfast on their patios. The dam was then 227 feet (69m) high; its present height of 312 feet (95m) was achieved only later, in 1938. [21][33] Albert Bierstadt, Charles Dorman Robinson and William Keith were known for their landscapes that drew tourists to the Hetch Hetchy Valley. Photo: Chris Migeon. [15] When the glacier retreated for the final time, sediment-laden meltwater deposited thick layers of silt, forming the flat alluvial floodplain of the valley floor. Had it been, the Sierra Clubs members would have presented a united front in opposition to its development. Before they could break ground at the OShaughnessy Dam, more infrastructure was required. But how did the dam get to be here? 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. His path roughly follows the John Muir Highway State Highway 132 that runs from Highway 49 in Coulterville up through Greeley Hill before connecting back into Highway 120 before Buck Meadows and the turn-off to Hetch Hetchy. Muir observed:[3]. 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.. While John Muir led the fight against building the dam, the opposition was supported by Gifford Pinchot. [40] By the 1880s, San Francisco was looking to Hetch Hetchy water as a fix for its outdated and unreliable water system. A bigger population will increase demand, meanwhile climate change could significantly reduce supply through drought and hydrological cycle changes. For thousands of years, Native Americans subjected the valley to controlled bushfires, which prevented forest from taking over the valley meadows. There is no Starbucks here no daily parade of tour buses and RVs. [8] Rancheria Falls is located farther southeast, on Rancheria Creek. He was a firm believer in utilitarian conservation. For your last day, enjoy a short hike on the shores of the beautiful Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. The battle over Hetch Hetchy was a fight to determine whether a beautiful valley would remain in its natural state or service the growing city of San Franciscos water needs. If the nation set aside some natural places as especially sacred, how far beyond their borders should a sense of the sacred extend? The Great Alaskan Land Fraud and the Pinchot-Ballinger Controversy caused both Richard A. Ballinger and Gifford Pinchot to resign and be fired respectively. In the distance, long white plumes of water cascade hundreds of feet down from rocky heights. When changes are made there are unintended consequences. The main power facility in the system, the Moccasin Powerhouse, began commercial operation on August 14, 1925. In 2006, the California State Department of Water Resources (DWR) and Department of Parks and Recreation evaluated the cost estimates of multiple feasibility studies conducted between 1988 and 2005. As of October 2022, Hetch Hetchy was at 77.5% of its capacity. The question Pinchot always asked was, What is the greatest good for the greatest number?, He was famously quoted as saying, Where conflicting interests must be reconciled, the question shall always be answered from the standpoint of the greatest good of the greatest number in the long run., RELATED: Gifford Pinchot: A 2021 Lesson From Americas First Forester, In his congressional testimony, Pinchot argued in favor of building the dam. But tearing OShaughnessy Dam down now in order to restore Hetch Hetchy Valley would be a disaster. [17] The valley's abundant plants provided nourishment for mule deer, black bears and bighorn sheep. While youre at it, plan to add to the historic flavor of this route with a stop the Northern Mariposa County History Center. You could then scuba ElCapitan down to the valley floor. 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. As well dam for . The Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, which lies within the Yosemite National Park, supplies 85% of the water needs of San Francisco and surrounding counties. Dam the Hetch Hetchy! Spring and early summer bring wildflowers including lupine, wallflower, monkey flower, and buttercup. Activity 1: Analysis. Two additional reservoirs in the Hetch Hetchy RegionLake Eleanor and Lake Lloyd (also And, as you might imagine, it produces some of the cleanest municipal water in the United States. The proposed study would also have been required to identify potential replacements for the water storage capacity and hydroelectric power production.[87][88].

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