O'Shaughnessy Dam is a 430-foot (131 m) high concrete arch-gravity dam in Tuolumne County, California, United States.It impounds the Tuolumne River, forming the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir at the lower end of Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park, about 160 miles (260 km) east of San Francisco. [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. 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? The extensive amount of storage, which is designed to benefit the Bay Area as droughts become more severe with climate. 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. 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 . Subsequent proposals for development in our national parks have been defeated by citizen activists inspired by calls to remember Hetch Hetchy. [17] The valley's abundant plants provided nourishment for mule deer, black bears and bighorn sheep. The Hetch Hetchy Valley is a part of Yosemite National Park. Would that be an improvement? They acknowledge that a concerted effort would have to be made to control the introduction of wildlife and tourism back into the valley in order to prevent destabilization of the ecosystem,[68] and that it might be decades or even centuries before the valley could be returned to natural conditions. Your email address will not be published. [26], In the early 1850s, a mountain man by the name of Nathan Screech[27] became the first non-Native American to enter the valley. An adjacent building contains another five suites with vaulted ceilings, forest views and soaking tubs. [57] Pipelines 3 and 4 end at the Pulgas Water Temple, a small park that contains classical architectural elements which celebrate the water delivery. [31], During this time, the upper Tuolumne River, including Hetch Hetchy Valley, was visited by prospectors attracted by the California Gold Rush. While youre at it, plan to add to the historic flavor of this route with a stop the Northern Mariposa County History Center. The Tuolumne River originates in the peaks above Tuolumne Meadows and is the major drainage system for the northern part of Yosemite. Her poetic descriptions of Hetch hetchy won her the attention of powerful members of Congress. 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. Copyright © 2023 More Than Just Parks | This post may contain affiliate links - read our Standards, Corrections, & Privacy Policy. This valley was isolated and remote, twenty miles northwest of the original. [61] In 2018, the Department of the Interior of the Trump administration began to consider a proposal to allow limited boating on the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir for the first time, supported by the advocacy group Restore Hetch Hetchy which argued that "San Francisco received [Hetch Hetchy's] benefits long ago, but the American people have not. Gray pine, incense-cedar, and California black oak grow in abundance. Pinchot was Americas Forester. He served as the first head of the United States Forest Service. benefits of hetch hetchy dam. [82] Dianne Feinstein opposed this allocation, saying, "I will do all I can to make sure it isn't included in the final bill. We have historic photographs to remind us of what Hetch Hetchy Valley looked like before the dam was built. Included with your registration: Two-day guided experience in Yosemite; one day at Hetch Hetchy and one day in Ackerson Meadow (Saturday, May 11, at 8 am, through Sunday, May 12, until about 3 pm). 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. Looking up at Wapama Falls from the footbridge on the hiking trail. California Rep. John E. Raker submitted a bill to Congress granting the city of San Francisco the right to dam the Hetchy Hetchy Valley as a reservoir and also provide the city the right of municipalized electricity as well. [54] The entire system produces about 1.7 billion kilowatt hours per year, enough to meet 20% of San Francisco's electricity needs. This can lead to algal blooms and decreased oxygen levels. Hetch Hetchy Valley was once home to a richly diverse ecosystem, surrounded by towering cliffs and waterfalls similar to those in neighboring Yosemite Valley. About one million years ago, the extensive Sherwin glaciation widened, deepened and straightened river valleys along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, including Hetch Hetchy, Yosemite Valley, and Kings Canyon farther to the south. 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. The glacially-carved U-shaped valley floor maximizes the amount of water stored in the reservoir. Wapama Fall is reached via a five-mile, round-trip hike that follows the shoreline of the reservoir with moderate up and downhill hiking. 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 (13km). 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. As well dam for water-tanks the peoples cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man.. After 2.5 miles (4.0 km), youll reach the Wapama Falls Bridge with an up-close view of the lowest section of Wapama Falls. [84] Karin Klein has described Yosemite Valley as "so crammed that it looks more like a ripstop ghetto than the site of a nature experience. "[65] Harold L. Ickes, Secretary of the Interior in the late 1930s, said there was a violation of the Raker Act, but he and the city reached an agreement in 1945. . For John Muir, it was about preserving a natural wonder which could be enjoyed by generations to come. An advantage which Phelan, Pinchot and other supporters of the dam project enjoyed was a divided opposition. As the Hetch Hetchy Valley was part of Yosemite National Park, Hitchcock preferred to protect the park's natural wonders. 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. John Muir, the first president of the Sierra Club, condemned plans to build the dam, saying, "Dam Hetch Hetchy! Mirror Lakes famous spring-time reflections capture the eye and mind. Not far from there, youll find more budget-minded lodging at Buck Meadows Lodge. No picture of the giant sequoia trees in Yosemite National Park manages to fully capture their immense size and majesty. 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. The main power facility in the system, the Moccasin Powerhouse, began commercial operation on August 14, 1925. Hetch Hetchy Water and Power also wants to remove the giant bulkhead that seals up the tunnel with 40 nuts and bolts, Ritchie said. Following a fierce nationwide debate led by John Muir and Will Colby of the Sierra Club, 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. In continuance, water has a personality and the presence of it can change moods and help people feel better. Muir and other defenders of Hetch Hetchy believe the fight revolved around two central issues. "[34], When Yosemite Valley became part of a state park in 1864, Hetch Hetchy received no such designation. Pinchot argued that applying the principle of the greatest good for the greatest number, meant the benefits accrued to the people of San Francisco from having the dam far outweighed leaving the valley in its current state. [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. [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. . There are thousands of dams in the United States. The proposed ballot measure calls for the creation of a task force that would spend $8 million to develop a long-term plan for improving water quality and reliability, remediating environmental damages caused by the water supply system, and identifying new water and renewable energy supplies so that Hetch Hetchy Valley could be returned to the National Park Service. [8], Before damming, the valley floor contained abundant stands of black oaks, live oak, Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, and silver fir bordering the meadows, with alder, willow, poplar and dogwood in the riparian zone along the Tuolumne River. Should natural resources be used to serve the greatest good for the greatest number? Valley, reservoir, and aqueduct in California, USA, sfn error: no target: CITEREFMatthes1930 (, sfn error: no target: CITEREFWohlforth2004 (, sfn error: no target: CITEREFWhitney1874 (, sfn error: no target: CITEREFGlennon2009 (, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Hetch Hetchy, List of dams and reservoirs in California, List of the tallest dams in the United States, "Alternatives for Restoration of Hetch Hetchy Valley Following Removal of the Dam and Reservoir", "Hetch Hetchy Reclaimed: Drain it, then what? 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. The dam is a small portion of the overall Tuolumne River/San Francisco storage system that benefits the Bay Area. For example, plan to stop at the Lucky Buck Cafe on your way to or from a day of exploring Yosemite. Yes, the plan to drain Hetch Hetchy involves causing new ecological damage. The reservoir is fed by the Tuolumne River. ", "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? [51][52] The aqueduct delivers an average of 265,000acreft (327,000,000m3) of water each year, or 31,900,000cuft (900,000m3) per day, to residents of San Francisco and San Mateo, Santa Clara and Alameda Counties. Congress, confronted with rising public opposition, refused to act on the measure. OShaughnessy Dam and the waterworks that connect it to the Bay Area are a marvel of engineering. 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. 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. The Hetch Hetchy dam is upstream on the Tuolumne River from a reservoir nearly six times as large. Many are vital pieces of infrastructure that provide reliable water supplies, hydropower, flood control, and recreation. To get to Hetch Hetchy, turn north off Highway 120 onto Evergreen Road about 1 mile (2.2 km) outside the Big Oak Flat Entrance gate, and 12.5 miles (20 km) east of the small community of Buck Meadows. Due to extreme winter weather, Yosemite National Park is closed with no estimated date of reopening. For instance, the WET company helps people see the beauty of water through magnificent water fountains. [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. Shasta, Oroville, Hetch Hetchy and many others were built by damming large rivers. A Dam Removal in Progress. Park entry (as needed). Youll just need to see them for yourself. 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. For functional purposes, Hetch Hetchy was a promising solution to San Francisco's serious water shortages. The Hetch Hetchy Dam is destroying a piece of land that is the homes of multiple types of animals. [2] From Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, the water flows through the Canyon and Mountain Tunnels to Kirkwood and Moccasin Powerhouses, which have capacities of 124 and 110 megawatts, respectively. [citation needed], The Hetch Hetchy Valley began as a V-shaped river canyon cut out by the ancestral Tuolumne River. [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). [63] The city justified this as a temporary measure, but no attempt to follow through with completing the municipal grid was ever made. The Tuolumne River, the source of. Progressive political leaders, of whom Mayor Phelan was one, believed it was time to take this power away from the private interests and turn it over to the people. Apply Today! [24] Screech reported that the valley was bitterly disputed between the "Pah Utah Indians" (Paiute) and "Big Creek Indians" (Miwok), and witnessed several fights in which the Paiute appeared to be the dominant tribe. [54] An additional hydroelectric system comprising Cherry Lake, Lake Eleanor and the Holm Powerhouse is also part of the Hetch Hetchy Project, adding another 169 megawatts of generating capacity. Hetch Hetchy is on the main stem of the Tuolumne River and is part of the Tuolumne watershed. Before they could break ground at the OShaughnessy Dam, more infrastructure was required. Exactly how San Francisco won the right to transform the bucolic valley into a The falls roar in spring and early summer. 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 unique because of its small holding capacity in comparison to the vast watershed feeding it. [42] This provoked a seven-year environmental struggle with the environmental group Sierra Club, led by John Muir. Hetch Hetchy is the incredible story of Americas most controversial dam and the birth of the environmental movement. He had journeyed to Washington to lobby the federal government on behalf of the project. Slow-moving reservoirs heat up, resulting in abnormal temperature fluctuations which can affect sensitive species. The landscape painter Bierstadt, who brought his German Romantic training to the valley in 1862, gave the world an even larger portrait, and one in extravagant color, that photographers could not match on any scale. It has not been demonstrated that Hetch Hetchy is the only available source, but only that it might be the cheapest. The valley provided an escape from the summer heat of the lowlands. RELATED: A Woman Started The Environmental Movement (Can It Continue?). The reservoir is eight miles long and the largest single body of water in Yosemite. Before damming, the high granite formations produced a valley with an average depth of 1,800ft (550m) and a maximum depth of over 3,000ft (910m); the length of the valley was 3mi (4.8km) with a width ranging from .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}18 to 12 mile (660 to 2,640ft; 200 to 800m). In the northwest corner of Yosemite National Park you can find the Hetch Hetchy Valley. Many examples of red-barked manzanita can be seen along the Hetch Hetchy Road. The OShaughnessy Dam was completed in 1938 and is 430-feet tall. San Francisco Mayor James Phelan led the fight to build a dam at Hetch Hetchy. Hoffman observed a meadow "well timbered and affording good grazing", and noted the valley had a milder climate than Yosemite Valley, hence the abundance of ponderosa pine and gray pine. Hetch Hetchy doesn't require permit, you need just regular National park pass. Dam the Hetch Hetchy! He was a firm believer in utilitarian conservation. Would there be any room in an acquisitive society for wildness, or for non material spiritual values?. The trail continues to climb for 1.8 miles (2.8 km) above the trail intersection, but you can turn around any time. [8], While its cousin Yosemite Valley to the south had permanent Miwok settlements,[25] Hetch Hetchy was only seasonally inhabited. The dam was then 227 feet (69m) high; its present height of 312 feet (95m) was achieved only later, in 1938. Only a tiny proportion of Yosemites visitors explore this out-of-the-way corner of the national park. Even before it was finished, the massive . [13], Hetch Hetchy is home to a diverse array of plants and animals. In the autumn of 1871, John Muir visited Hetch Hetchy for the first time. [28][29] About 1853, his brother, Joseph Screech (credited in some accounts for the original discovery of the valley)[27] blazed the first trail from Big Oak Flat, a mining camp near present-day Lake Don Pedro,[30] for 38mi (61km) northeast to Hetch Hetchy Valley.

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