What was the Hetch Hetchy Valley issue explain?
Between 1908 and 1913, Congress debated whether to make a water resource available or preserve a wilderness when the growing city of San Francisco, California proposed building a dam in the Hetch Hetchy Valley to provide a steady water supply.
What did John Muir say about Hetch Hetchy?
As long as the busy public in general knew little or nothing about the Hetch-Hetchy Valley, the few cunning drivers of the damming scheme, working in darkness like moles in a low-lying meadow, seemed confident of success; but when light was turned on and the truth became manifest that next to Yosemite, Hetch-Hetchy is …
Where is Hetch Hetchy located?
Yosemite National Park
Located in the northwest portion of Yosemite National Park, Hetch Hetchy refers to a valley in the Sierra Nevada and a reservoir that supplies water to the San Francisco Bay Area. The valley is drained by the Tuolumne River.
Why did San Francisco want to dam Hetch Hetchy Valley?
The idea to use Hetch Hetchy Valley for municipal water storage originated in the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake that devastated San Francisco as a way to stabilize the city’s water supply.
Why do we need Hetch Hetchy more than ever?
Hetch Hetchy is unique because of its small holding capacity in comparison to the vast watershed feeding it. 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 species—even in dry years.
What is San Francisco’s water source?
San Francisco draws its water from two major watersheds — the Tuolumne, which includes the Hetch Hetchy reservoir, Cherry Lake and Lake Eleanor, and the Alameda and Peninsula watersheds. Hetch Hetchy, a reservoir located in Yosemite National Park, provides about 85% of the city’s water supply.
Could we dismantle the Hetch Hetchy Dam in Yosemite?
“The state of California Department of Water Resources report confirms that dismantling O’Shaugnessy Dam and draining the Hetch Hetchy reservoir are unwarranted and the cost is indefensible, particularly given the tremendous infrastructure needs facing our State,” the senator said in July 2006.
Where is the Hetch Hetchy Valley in California?
Tuolumne River. Hetch Hetchy is the name of a valley, a reservoir and a water system in California in the United States. The glacial Hetch Hetchy Valley lies in the northwestern part of Yosemite National Park and is drained by the Tuolumne River.
What’s the difference between Hetch Hetchy and Yosemite?
For all the similarities between Hetch Hetchy Valley and Yosemite Valley, there is one enormous difference – the Hetch Hetchy reservoir. The surface of the water hides an additional 300 feet of granite cliffs and once-upon-a-time waterfalls within its depths.
Why was Hetch Hetchy Valley protected from development?
The Hetch Hetchy Valley was within Yosemite National Park and protected by the federal government, leaving it up to Congress to decide the valley’s fate. National opinion divided between giving San Francisco the right to dam the valley and preserving the valley from development.
Where is the Hetch Hetchy Road east of the dam?
Upstream from the valley lies the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne, while the smaller Poopenaut Valley is directly downstream from O’Shaughnessy Dam. The Hetch Hetchy Road drops into the valley at the dam, but all points east of there are roadless, and accessible only to hikers and equestrians.