benefits of hetch hetchy dam

In the Bay Area, Hetch Hetchy water is stored in local facilities including Calaveras Reservoir, Crystal Springs Reservoir, and San Antonio Reservoir. [56] All four pipelines cross the Hayward fault. [42] They claimed the valley was not unique and would be even more beautiful with a lake. It is the primary water source for about 2.5 million residents of the San Francisco Bay Area. We're not going to remove this dam, and the funding is unnecessary. 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. [85] The exploitation of Californias natural resources continued unabated in the years leading up to Hetch Hetchy. Building the Dam. The National Park Service conducted research to determine what would happen if the dam were removed, and people have repeatedly proposed costly studies to further understand the consequences of removing the dam. Copyright © 2023 More Than Just Parks | This post may contain affiliate links - read our Standards, Corrections, & Privacy Policy. [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. [2] [citation needed], The Hetch Hetchy Valley began as a V-shaped river canyon cut out by the ancestral Tuolumne River. 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. Hetch Hetchy Environmental Debates | National Archives While the dialogue around the West's water wars has been concentrated on the Colorado River and the alarming decline of Lake Powell and Lake Mead, watersheds across the Western United States are feeling the effects of a rapidly aridifying landscape due to climate change. 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. San Francisco could flood the valley and work began the following year. Sign up for the email list and join an active community of monthly readers. For functional purposes, Hetch Hetchy was a promising solution to San Francisco's serious water shortages. 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. "[61][62], The battle over Hetch Hetchy Valley continues today[when?] Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, encompassing 2,000 acres of federal park land, has clearly been maintained for the benefit of San Francisco with minimal consideration of the wider public whose tax dollarsand, in the case of visitors, entrance feessupport the national park. 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. [58], Water from Hetch Hetchy is some of the cleanest municipal water in the United States; San Francisco is one of six U.S. cities not required by law to filter its tap water, although the water is disinfected by ozonation and, since 2011, exposure to UV. Rancheria Falls itself is a series of whitewater cascades that crashes through a narrow canyon on its way to the reservoir. 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 Freeman Report artfully depicted reservoirs in Norway, the United Kingdom and the eastern United States showing how nature and public utility worked together to improve their surroundings and provide long-term benefits for everyone. [9] Formerly, a "small but noisy"[10] waterfall and natural pool existed on the Tuolumne River marked the upper entrance to Hetch Hetchy Valley,[11] informally known as Tuolumne Fall (not to be confused with a similarly named waterfall several miles upriver near Tuolumne Meadows). In Yosemite National Park, the Hetch Hetchy reservoir relies on the annual snowmelt to stay full. Hetch Hetchy water travels 160 miles via gravity from . Building the Hetch Hetchy dam in such a remote location was an enormous project. But how did the dam get to be here? 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. High temperatures prevail in summer months, but that is a small price to pay for the reward of vast wilderness filled with stunning peaks, hidden canyons, and remote lakes. In spite of Muirs eloquent and heated objections, the Raker Act was signed into law in December of 1913. A) human well-being B) renewable energy C) environmental sustainability D) cultural services E) human population growth, The current total world population has just passed ________. This fight set the stage for future battles between those who believed natural resources were to be used for the greatest good versus those who believed natural resources were to be preserved for the greatest enjoyment. Then, in 1906, a devastating earthquake caused a series of fires in San Francisco that destroyed 25,000 buildings across 490 city blocks. 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. [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. The Hetch Hetchy Valley is a part of Yosemite National Park. She says the water first leaves Hetch Hetchy through the O'Shaughnessy Dam. Hetch Hetchy, located at 3,900 feet in Yosemite National Park, is one of the park's most popular hiking . The Poopenaut Trail begins at a signed trailhead four miles past the entrance station. San Francisco Hetch Hetchy Reservoir Initiative, Proposition F history. Hoover Dam. [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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Upcountry and the Bay Area. 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. On this point we hold that while we are willing to die for the lives or the health of the citizens of San Francisco, we are not willing to die for their pockets. There, he met the same Indian chief and his wives. Annie Li, a senior engineer at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, points to the yellow and brown squiggly lines on the map, revealing our water's path from Hetch Hetchy to the Bay Area. [4] A broad, low rocky outcrop situated between Kolana Rock and Hetch Hetchy Dome divided the former meadow in two distinct sections. This reservoir on the Sacramento River has been planned for decades Restore Yosemite? It can be done. - Los Angeles Times [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. 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. 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. The Hetch Hetchy Dam is destroying a piece of land that is the homes of multiple types of animals. One route begins six miles beyond the entrance station. 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. 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. Hetch Hetchy, for the time being, was safe, and it would not be inundated during Roosevelts watch.. "[19], People have lived in Hetch Hetchy Valley for over 6,000 years. Glaciers followed these low-points, leaving their own marks in particular carving out the characteristic U-shaped valley with steep sides and wide floor. The battle over the Hetch Hetchy, in part, was a fight over public versus private ownership of vital resources such as water. 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. 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. It would be almost impossible to build a new dam there today. 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. Environment Quiz 1 Chapters 1-3 Flashcards | Quizlet

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