What We Propose and Why
"Hetch Hetchy Valley is a grand landscape garden,
one of Nature's rarest
and most precious mountain temples."
- John Muir
Mention Hetch Hetchy Valley to visitors to Yosemite National Park and their response is immediate: a heartfelt feeling of deep sadness for what has been lost, and a fervent hope that what has been lost can somehow be regained -- for Park visitors, for the people of the United States, for the people of the world, for the plants and animals, and for the glorious granite walls and booming waterfalls of Hetch Hetchy Valley.
Probably no issue symbolizes the environmental movement's historical role in protecting the Earth's natural wonders like its effort to preserve and restore Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park.
Following a fierce nationwide debate led by John Muir, the City of San Francisco was authorized by the U.S. Congress, in the Raker Act of 1913, to construct a dam and reservoir on the Tuolumne River in Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park. Construction of the O'Shaughnessy Dam was finished in 1923 and, ten years later after the necessary pipelines were completed, San Francisco began using water from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir for its public water supply. Electrical power had already been generated prior to the completion of the dam itself.
In 1987, President Ronald Reagan's Secretary of the Interior, Donald Hodel, proposed the restoration of Hetch Hetchy Valley. At the time, he stated: "Restoration of Hetch Hetchy Valley to its natural state may be a dream, but it is our obligation as concerned Americans to discover if this dream can become a reality. It is for our generation to decide that this is an investment for future generations . . . If we succeed, America can once again boast its position as a world leader in the care, improvement, and restoration of our National Parks."
In 1988, under Secretary Hodel's direction, the Bureau of Reclamation (administratively within the Department of Interior) completed a preliminary study for the National Park Service, "Hetch Hetchy Water and Power Replacement Concepts" that outlined several possible scenarios for restoring Hetch Hetchy and allowing the Bay Area continued reliance on the Tuolumne River for water and power. This report will act as a springboard for our own, more detailed, Feasibility Study.
Hetch Hetchy Valley, the gateway for the Grand Canyon of the Tuolulmne River, should be restored to its natural condition in order to allow "one of nature's rarest and most precious mountain temples" to be available for public enjoyment, to be reintegrated into its natural ecological and biological systems, and to provide for scientific exploration.
In addition, Hetch Hetchy Valley should be restored in order to preserve the integrity and inviolate status of our National Parks. As the 1988 report prepared by the Bureau of Reclamation states: "Such restoration would renew the national commitment to maintaining the integrity of the national park system and keep in perpetual conservation an irreplaceable and unique natural area."
A wonderful team of people has been assembled to support RESTORE HETCH HETCHY's restoration effort: naturalists, river ecologists, investment bankers from this country's major financial investment firms, attorneys, economists, engineers, public finance experts, public policy experts,teachers, university professors, river enthusiasts, artists, actors, photographers, and musicians.
Our goal is to accomplish a "win-win" outcome for Hetch Hetchy Valley, and for the cities of the Bay Area and the Turlock and Modesto Irrigation Districts that rely on Hetch Hetchy water and power. Our latest study, using data from respected California water experts, shows that is technically feasible to restore Hetch Hetchy Valley, while preserving 95% of the existing water supply and 73% of the hydro-power. Additional measures such as water and energy conservation, raising Don Pedro Dam, and groundwater storage could economically replace the remaining water and energy losses.
Having a "win-win" outcome is certainly within the realm of possibility -- given what has occurred at Mono Lake. Twenty years ago, Mono Lake and its tributaries were on the decline. Los Angeles Department of Water and Power was draining them to the point that a land bridge was about to be formed to the islands in Mono Lake, thus allowing coyotes to get to the gull's nesting grounds. The Mono Lake Committee was formed to rally public support for saving Mono Lake and, they have been successful -- Mono Lake is being saved and the City of Los Angeles is receiving MORE water than they would have otherwise and it is receiving millions of dollars in state and federal grants for water reclamation and water recycling programs.
RESTORE HETCH HETCHY has already made many accomplishments:
- We published our own Feasibility Study 2005: Finding
the Way Back to Hetch Hetchy Valley: A Vision of Steps to Restore Hetch Hetchy
Valley in Yosemite National Park and to Replace Water and Energy Supplies
This major new study reveals that practical, reasonably priced solutions exist which can easily replace the water and energy that would otherwise be lost if O’Shaughnessy Dam were removed and Yosemite’s Hetch Hetchy Valley were restored. (September 13, 2005) - We published Refuting the Myths About Hetch Hetchy (December, 2005)
- We published an educational video, Hetch Hetchy, Yosemite's Lost Valley, which includes not only scenic shots, but explanatory interview footage of our board members, and September, 2002 footage of Don Hodel, former Secretary of the Interior who still advocates the restoration of Hetch Hetchy;
- We are implementing an aggressive public education and outreach campaign that includes coalition building with like-minded organizations, and a catalog of items to make people more aware of Hetch Hetchy
- We continue an ongoing petition drive targeted at the Secretary of the Interior and to educate other public officials;
- We conduct educational outings to Hetch Hetchy for lawmakers and the media, including most recently Time Magazine, the McNeill-Lehrer News Hour, and Huell Howser of the PBS TV series California Gold;
- We are making plans for a new book: Hetch Hetchy Valley -- A Grand Landscape Garden with John Muir's exuberant writing, beautiful paintings by Albert Bierstadt, and photography by award-winning photographers; and,
- We assembling materials for a children's book and sample lesson plans for outdoor educators and regular classroom teachers.
- We are recruiting volunteers to help make restoring Hetch Hetchy a reality. Please join us!
- We ask you to join to help us spread the word about the win-win solution for restoring Hetch Hetchy while providing water and power to the SF Bay Area.
Press Photos
- High-Resolution Photos for the News Media - Before the Dam Pictures
To get involved in the effort to restore Hetch Hetchy, contact Restore Hetch Hetchy at: info@hetchhetchy.org, P.O. Box 565 San Francisco, CA. Telephone: (415) 956-0401.
For inquiries about this website, contact the webmaster, at: webmaster@hetchhetchy.org