Standing upon it will give you the chance to appreciate the sublimity of both nature and human achievement. The Hetch Hetchy Valley underwent a monumental transformation when the City Of San Francisco received the approval of Congress in 1913 to build a dam in the Hetch Hetchy Valley, thus storing the water of the Tuolumne River and flooding the valley to a height of over 350 feet. They would light upon a man's blue shirt and turn it brown, and were voracious as mosquitoes would be. For your last day, enjoy a short hike on the shores of the beautiful Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. [42] This provoked a seven-year environmental struggle with the environmental group Sierra Club, led by John Muir. Environmentalists lost what was the opening battle in a fight to preserve Americas natural wonders. Hetch Hetchy was the first major battle of the environmental movement. 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. The locations of these two formations roughly correspond with those of Cathedral Rocks and El Capitan seen from Tunnel View in Yosemite Valley. . Finally, with the railroad complete, teams broke ground on the OShaughnessy Dam on August 1, 1919. benefits of hetch hetchy dam. Over the last 35 years, the idea has been studied by the Environmental Defense Fund, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the National Park Service, UC Davis, and several state agencies. . . 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. Once again, the political pendulum would swing. Call 209-372-0200 for the latest road and weather conditions, Hetch Hetchy Road Daily Hours: 8 am to 5 pm. John Muir, the first president of the Sierra Club, condemned plans to build the dam, saying, "Dam Hetch Hetchy! Proponents of the dam replied that out of multiple sites considered by San Francisco, Hetch Hetchy had the "perfect architecture for a reservoir",[43] with pristine water, lack of development or private property, a steep-sided and flat-floored profile that would maximize the amount of water stored, and a narrow outlet ideal for placement of a dam. Hetch Hetchy, for the time being, was safe, and it would not be inundated during Roosevelts watch.. As well dam for water tanks the peoples cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man.'. Next to John Muir, the most vocal defender of the Hetch Hetchy Valley was Harriet Monroe. The Hetch Hetchy Dam is destroying a piece of land that is the homes of multiple types of animals. Use good judgment and stay safe. For most of the year the waterfall offers a refreshing shower or cooling mist along with an amazing view. In the 21st century, Ken Brower, son of the renown environmentalist David Brower, wrote a fascinating account of the failed campaign to save Hetch Hetchy and the modern effort to Reverse an American Mistake, complete with speculation about how the rebirth of a wild valley might evolve. [2], Wapama Falls, at 1,080ft (330m), and Tueeulala Falls, at 840ft (260m) both among the tallest waterfalls in North America are both located in Hetch Hetchy Valley. Some of these studies determined that the idea of draining the reservoir was technically feasible but incredibly costly. It would be almost impossible to build a new dam there today. 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 . Pinchot was Americas Forester. He served as the first head of the United States Forest Service. But the ultra-liberal President Woodrow Wilson signed off in 1913 on the multi-decade construction of a series of dams within Yosemite National Park that flooded Hetch Hetchy Valley to create a massive reservoir, hydroelectric plants, and a 167-mile aqueduct for the sole benefit of the City of San Francisco. There is a third concept, too, though it was little understood at the time. It is the source of water for the city of San Francisco. can you smoke on royal caribbean cruise ships benefits of hetch hetchy dam. Hydroelectric power generated from the Hetch Hetchy project is largely sold to Bay Area customers through a private power company, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). 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. In the autumn of 1871, John Muir visited Hetch Hetchy for the first time. Before they could break ground at the OShaughnessy Dam, more infrastructure was required. 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. Hetch Hetchy and many others were built by . Although Hetch Hetchy is included within the boundaries of Yosemite National Park, the entrance is separate from the rest of the park. But Sites would be what's called an off-channel reservoir, built away from the river. Loss of the reservoir would decrease the Bay Areas water and energy security, requiring new water storage (possibly in reservoirs not owned by San Francisco) and the development of new water and energy supplies. [82] Dianne Feinstein opposed this allocation, saying, "I will do all I can to make sure it isn't included in the final bill. . [8], While its cousin Yosemite Valley to the south had permanent Miwok settlements,[25] Hetch Hetchy was only seasonally inhabited. [40] The city would repeatedly try to acquire water rights to Hetch Hetchy, including in 1901, 1903 and 1905, but was continually rebuffed because of conflicts with irrigation districts that had senior water rights on the Tuolumne River, and because of the valley's national park status. [6][7], Upstream from the valley lies the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne, while the smaller Poopenaut Valley is directly downstream from O'Shaughnessy Dam. Rounding the corner and catching the first glimpses of Hetch Hetchy Valley reveals the play of light on water. They also remove water needed for healthy in-stream ecosystems. In 1987, President Reagans Secretary of the Interior, Donald Hodel, proposed that Hetch Hetchy be restored. Then it travels through a series of mountain tunnels. Hetch Hetchy's restoration, after all, will benefit national . 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.. One route begins six miles beyond the entrance station. Winter weather conditions may cause road closures. Hetch Hetchy Valley, dammed and flooded in the 1920s despite bitter opposition from Sierra Club founder John Muir, provides drinking water for an estimated 2 million people in the San Francisco . The privately owned Spring Valley Water Company had required its customers to pay exorbitant rates for years. For functional purposes, Hetch Hetchy was a promising solution to San Francisco's serious water shortages. The O'Shaughnessy Dam is 430-foot (131 m) high made of concrete and it is named after engineer Michael O'Shaughnessy, who oversaw the entire construction. Browers Hetch Hetchy: Undoing A Great American Mistake, makes a compelling case for restoring the valley to its previous glory. [16], Compared with Yosemite Valley, the walls of Hetch Hetchy are smoother and rounder because it was glaciated to a greater extent. A recent report evaluates the economic benefits of restoring Hetch Hetchy Valley. It also was an early battle of conservatives vs progressives. The O'Shaughnessy Dam is near Yosemite's western boundary, but the long, narrow, fingerlike reservoir stretches eastward for about 8 miles (13 km). 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. 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. OPTION 3Give control to the local people of Hetch Hetchy If you delight in getting off the well-beaten path, or if you are looking for a peaceful natural retreat, its perfection. Instead, it was a more complicated battle which pitted public interests against private interests. 2023 Yosemite Mariposa County Tourism Bureau, Yosemite Itineraries: What to Do in Yosemite. Let us introduce you to some of the unique giant sequoia groves in the Yosemite Mariposa County area the Merced, Tuolumne, and Mariposa Groves are inside Yosemite National Park, and the Nelder Grove is just outside the park boundary to the south. 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. 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.. A national debate ensued between the preservationist and conservationist factions of the young environmental movement. The SFPUC tests its quality more than 100,000 times a year to ensure that it exceeds all safe drinking water standards. As well dam for water-tanks the people's cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been . Including additions made between 1934 and 1938, the dam currently stands 430 feet (131 m) above the bedrock below. The water shunted through them about 218 million gallons a day arrives in most city taps by gravity alone. 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. We would be trading flooded acres in one place for flooded acres in another. California needed secure, reliable access to drinking water for their burgeoning populations. In the 19th century, the first white visitors to the valley did not realize that Hetch Hetchy's extensive meadows were the product of millennia of management by Native Americans; instead they believed "the valley was purely a product of ancient geological forces (or divine intervention) this was fundamental to its allure as a destination and subject. But how did the dam get to be here? [67], Preservation groups including the Sierra Club and Restore Hetch Hetchy state that draining Hetch Hetchy would open the valley back up to recreation, a right that should be provided to the American people because the reservoir is within the legal boundaries of a national park.