hetch hetchy dam pros and cons hetch hetchy dam pros and cons

John Muir believed that nature was an example of the power of god and creation, and that the use of nature through management was an act of defamation. Seja bem vindo ao mundo dos esportes . The area where the Hetch Hetchy project was to take place was an established part of a national park and therefore off limits for human use. The Hetch Hetchy water system includes other reservoirs, and the one in Hetch Hetchy Valley stores only about a quarter of the water San Francisco gets from the Tuolumne River. Due to the high intelligence level of human, we often think that we know what are the consequences of our action, and do things the way we like without knowing the real impact that we cause. Building a dam on the tuolumne river at hetch. Steve Ritchie, a San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) water manager who oversees the Hetch Hetchy system, says storing the water elsewhere would cost billions of dollars. Only AFTER the Raker Act was put into place and AFTER the establishment of the National Park Service, was there any supportable cause to dissuade such usage in the future, but certainly NOT retro-actively. Theodore Roosevelt approved the concept of the O'Shaughnessy Dam, which ultimately created the Hetch Hetchy reservoir within Yosemite. Bringing to light the question of progress or plants (for this purpose it is a generic term encompassing various flora and fauna)? Historical photographs show why: like Yosemite Valley, Hetch Hetchy has sheer granite walls that originally rose dramatically from a wide valley floor. JI & SP: Today, Hetch Hetchy Valley is a dammed and flooded reservoir. Something that had to do with the protests part is the Dakota Access Pipeline, or DAPL. Donald Hodel, then Secretary of the Interior, suggested that the time might be ripe to remove the OShaughnessy Dam that holds back the Tuolumne River creating the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. Into the conclusions of the studies listed above and the data on which they are based, and, finally, to weigh the pros and cons of dam removal and formulate your own position. Moreover, the stated term is typically located in Northwestern part of the National Park of Yosemite. Description. Meanwhile, the population has nearly doubled. Dams may be able to clean up the water. You might say mining was a decent thing to help the environment financially, but a lot of the times after people were done mining they left the environment a mess including the rivers and its banks. . Dams are controversial among environmentalists, providing water and clean energybut destroying and fragmenting habitat. They would need to reoperate the others and make additional investments. My personal Yosemite tales, knowledge and park information. His sorrow and melancholy mood towards the possible destruction of the stunning ecosystem is obvious: I was saddened to think of the tragedy that might occur if this great wilderness was consumed by a web of roads and pipelines, drilling rigs and industrial facilities. Additionally, Carter appeals to the nation by choosing words such as, tremendous opposition by the American people, symbol of our national heritage, and it will be a grand triumph for America to give the reader a feeling of importance towards this problem. Don Pedro Reservoir, downstream on the Tuolumne River, holds 6 times as much water as Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. I also reached out to San Francisco Water Public Records (SFWATER.ORG) for their views on the issue. . If the dams were not built then till this day there would still be and uncontrollable and an uncontrollable, In response to this discussion, Senators Kyl and McCain wrote the article, An Endless Tribal Water Fight, in hopes of defending the intentions of their bill. By california standards, hetch hetchy is not a large reservoir. Its going to be used to transport oil to the United States from Canada. Feel free to comment, like, or share. There are other posts on the plight of Hetch Hetchy at Yosemite Tales. Hetch Hetchy is unique because of its small holding capacity in comparison to the vast watershed feeding it. Wilderness is a type of protection given to the most pristine wildlands left on Earth areas within national parks, forests, recreation areas and other wildlands where there are no roads or development. Hetch Hetchy water travels 160 miles via gravity from . Answer #1. Their system is mostly gravity driven, and it would remain so. Hardin defines individual interests as the uses a logical, self-interested person sees for the commons to further his or her personal gain (1968, pp. One of the most positives outcomes was that came from the control of the colorado river was that the crops were able to be saved because the unpredictable floods were no longer occurring. This November, a group of environmental advocates will put forth a ballot measure that would require the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to develop a plan to drain Hetch Hetchy. Oak Trees end up showing the history of conservation, and wildlife comes from what others consider devastation of the land. Today, however, that valley is under 300 feet of water. I also asked San Francisco Water Public Records the following: Ive been curious about the water purity issue and that one of the features of the Tuolumne River is its purity and that it could be delivered without filtration. The pipeline is called the Dakota Access Pipeline project and is being built by the Energy Transfer Partners company. When people are not aware of where their energy comes from, it threatens their values and ideals. Giving a Dam: Congress Debates Hetch Hetchy. CONTENT. In 1961 they all participated in an expansion of the reservoir creating a larger dam increasing storage from just short of 300,000 acre-feet to a bit over 2,000,000 acre-feet. One of the more recent conflicts is the Keystone XL Pipeline. Guess who owns millions of acres of American wildlands? Don Pedro is operated by the Turlock and Modesto Irrigation Districts, but 1/3 of its volume is dedicated to a water supply bank for San Francisco. 1245). Rules were not set in the early stages of the parks, so people would overkill the animals and damage the trees by puncturing the outer layer . As well dam for water-tanks the people's cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man." John Muir, 1909. A decade later the O'Shaughnessy Dam, the second largest civil engineering project of its day after the Panama Canal, was completed. In re applications of A. H. Ward and Mariposa electrical . What I havent done is look more closely at the pros and cons of the issues on each side. . The Hetch Hetchy Dam is the name of a popular reservoir and water system in the state of California. San Francisco's water-bank in Don Pedro Reservoir, downstream on the Tuolumne River, holds twice as much water as Hetch Hetchy. Though the article demonstrated (at least, to me) that there were political retorts on both sides of the issue, the fact that the contracted giardiasis rates were higher than in other areas of California was not contested. Which means we lose more money. That is why I think it is good that the issue is now before the courts. But rather that i saw more pros than cons in building the dam. Ever since the establishment of the Yosemite National Park, strife has been going on around its borders and I suppose this will go on as part of the universal battle between right and wrong, however much its boundaries may be shorn, or its wild beauty destroyed. Important Legacy real-time page. However, even if Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is drained (with its water to be stored elsewhere and the valley restoration begins), Yosemite will still not be whole. Lake Eleanor is another reservoir with another Dam and within the boundary of Yosemite National Park and also part of the Hetch Hetchy water system for San Francisco. This natural beauty-hunger is made manifest in the little window-sill gardens of the poor, though perhaps only a geranium slip in a broken cup, as well as in the carefully tended rose and lily gardens of the rich, the thousands of spacious city parks and botanical gardens, and in our magnificent National parksthe Yellowstone, Yosemite, Sequoia, etc.Natures sublime wonderlands, the admiration and joy of the world. It uses a free resource. Monitoring location 11275500 is associated with a LAKE, RESERVOIR, IMPOUNDMENT in TUOLUMNE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA. But whenever we did have floodings the cost was very high to try and building and fixing it back up. People would save large amounts of money because it was not needed to be used on distillation payments. . Feature Photo: Brooks Andersons Hetch Hetchy: Requiem For a Valley, Ive been curious about the water purity issue and that one of the features of the Tuolumne River is its purity and that it could be delivered without filtration. Water quality would remain high. The dam and reservoir are the source for the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct, which provides water for over . Many worry that it will intrude on property rights, while others believe that it will be a danger to the environment. In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson signed legislation approving the construction of the O'Shaughnessy Dam to inundate the Hetch Hetchy Valley inside Yosemite National Park. Some people are outraged by the pipeline because it contributes to man-made climate change. Back in the early nineteen hundreds, when the debate start about The Hetch Hetchy dam being built a large majority of people did not realize or care how valuable nature is. There is no question in my mind that historical precedence goes to San Francisco in keeping the reservoir right where it is. This few is that whatever man had been taking from nature it only used it for what was, They feel that being able to enjoy the natural beauty of the world was more beneficial to humanity than collecting resources from it and destroying it in the process. In 2012, Restore Hetch Hetchy placed a measure on the San Francisco ballot that would have required the city to conduct an $8 million study on the impacts of draining the reservoir. This is proven through several of documents written by Gifford Pinchot and John Raker, San Francisco District, The yuma project both had positive and negative impacts. This would also mean that park of the national park would be flooded destroying the forest and nature living in the valley.The common view among americans was that is was in the most part for the greater good. However, not until 1987 under President Reagan did hope resurfaced that we may actually get it back. The debate 100 years ago was technically and, as it happens, critically won by san francisco. Spreck Rosekrans said, Yes, certain system improvements are required to keep SF whole with respect to water and power. We havent built a major dam in this state since 1979, McClintock said. Hetch Hetchy is only one of nine reservoirs in the San Francisco Public Utility Commission's water system. In a brief filed with the appellate court, they said, The trial court did not determine that the continued use of the dam and reservoir was reasonable rather, it concluded that the question could not be examined at all. In other words, they say the trial court did not address the substance of Restore Hetch Hetchys argument. And Im in favor of that. In the end Congress chose management over aesthetics, voting 4325 (with 29 abstentions) to allow the Hetch Hetchy dam on federal land. Pros And Cons Of Hech Hetchy. Up to 24% cash back (the hetch hetchy was a part of yosemite national park.) The debate over the Hetch Hetchy dam was about whether preserving the environment the way it is or using our natural resources efficiently had more value to human society. The Continuing Battle Over Hetch Hetchy In this final post from April 7, 2016, I reflect on the aftermath of the construction of the dam. RestoreHetch Hetchy Valley. I asked them where they stood on the issue of restoring Hetch Hetchy Valley. Issues that bring about this conflict such as population growth and pollution, cannot be solved through technical solutions alone (Hardin, 1968, pp. Fortunately, humans have governments that will manage our areas of natural wilderness. Newest results. We argued that the reservoir is not reasonable because the value of the restored valley is greater than the cost of changing the water system. At the time, they put the recreational value of the restoration at up to $8.8 billion and the cost of water system changes at $2 billion, both over 50 years. Copyright 2023 IPL.org All rights reserved. The two sides include Preservationists who wanted to preserve Hetch Hetchy and Conservationist who believed that we should take advantage of the resources Hetch Hetchy provides. . students will explore the divisions this controversy exposed within the conservation movement by using teacher selected documents and text representative of both sides of the debate along with actual records of the congressional hearings held to decide the valley's fate. It pitted a powerful city against a dedicated group of conservationists. As a reservoir, Hetch Hetchy is part of a system that provides water to 2.4 million people in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Sierra Club also built a visitor and education center in 1898. Again, San Francisco Water Public Records did not respond to the argument In Favor of Restoration, so let me share what I have learned from various resources. Stated in one of his essays This grossly destructive commercial scheme has long been planned and urged, because of the comparative cheapness of the dam. Eighty-five percent of the water comes from Sierra Nevada snowmelt stored in the Hetch Hetchy reservoir situated on the Tuolumne River in Yosemite National Park. The balttle over hetch hetchy robert w. You. Increase in food production capacities. Restoring the valley would return to Yosemite National Park a major asset. Though it took a while to respond, they were very cordial. The Sierra Club gained 1,000 members by 1908 and from them on continued to rise. Over the years it has become a passion. That will determine whether or not it is feasible. The first great American conservation movement was born during the Progressive Era out of the concern that industrial growth and urban development threatened to extinguish America's wilderness. However, the term was really able to come to prominence after economist Garret Hardin invoked the analogy in his 1968 paper Science. It was deeded to them in a duly enacted act of Congress in 1913. Ultimately, pro-reservoir forces won, and in 1913 Congress passed the Raker Act, which granted San . Royalty-free Creative Video Editorial Archive Custom Content Creative Collections. So Restore Hetch Hetchy filed an appeal with the Court of Appeals in Fresno, which heard arguments from both sides in May of this year. The regional water system provides water to 2.4 million people in San Francisco, Santa Clara, Alameda and San Mateo counties. Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, a source of drinking water for 2.7 million people in the City of San Francisco, is viewed from O'Shaughnessy Dam on October. When Spreck Rosekrans visits Hetch Hetchy the valley in Yosemite National Park that San Francisco turned into a reservoir nearly a century ago he looks beyond what is. Proceedings before the secretary of the interior. Today, however, that valley is under 300 feet of water. Hardin defines a technical solution as one that uses science or technology to save the commons (1968, pp. . Theodore Roosevelt had to send out armies to protect the land and get people to understand the national parks, Yellowstone and Yosemite, that they needed to be treated the right. This flood ended up changing the flow of the water uncontrollable and ended up leading into the Imperial Valley. We have estimated the cost to be $B 2.0 over 50 years primarily for water supply, water quality and hydropower replacement. There is a waiver for FILTERING but not for TREATMENT. Some of the costs would be operational, recurring year after year. During 19th century, the Hetch Hetchy Dam was being inhabited by the Native Americans who usually practiced the so called hunting-gathering. Is there some filtering or treatment now being applied that wasnt when your flyer was written? Hetch Hetchy is just 15 miles north of Yosemite Valley and the two are often called twins. His greatest idea was the land ethic. A quote from the movie says: All ethics so far evolved rest upon a single premise that the individual is a member of a community of individual partsland ethic includes soils, waters, plants and animals. Although, Leopold died in 1948, his ideas are still current. Fresno transpires as one of the fastest growing population county, and they accustomed to obtaining high temperatures. California should now spend money for, In the 1800s, the first national debate occurred over the idea of damming Hetch Hetchy. Reliable: Dams are used to create a clean, reliable, and efficient source of energy compared to other sources of energy. Learn more Whether to restore Hetch Hetchy will be the subject of a panel discussion Thursday at the Commonwealth Club, with experts from both sides of the debate, including Tom Graff, regional . The construction of the Hetch Hetchy Railroad took place from 1915 to 1918. Department of the interior. The Hetchy Dam controversy of the early 1900's was a debate that shaped how America has dealt with the environment since. How feasible is restoration? Others are mainly outraged because the Standing Rock Sioux tribe never agreed to the construction of the pipeline. After Muir dies the club established National Park Service, who Stephen Mather was director of in 1916. Here are the pros and cons of hydropower: List of Pros of Hydropower. So the water is officially considered to be safer than most water sources, but not safe to drink unfiltered and untreated. Find Hetch Hetchy Dam stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. If the logging of Crater Lake is to impel, many of the natural treasures in the park would be wiped out and unsuitable as a wilderness destination (Juillerat, OPB). The Tragedy of Commons is a concept originally contrived by William Forster Llyod in 1833 in the essay Two Lectures on the Checks to Population. If they expand filtration at Sunol, they would need to break gravity at that point. In the 1600s when Europeans began to settle in North America, there were 1037 million acres of forestland. A different story is unfolding at Hetch Hetchy reservoir in Yosemite National Park, where water is being released to conserve and restore wildlife. Leopold begins small in part I, he talks about this circle of life with animals and plants all playing a part and owning the land. Have San Francisco look into it. Department of the interior. After the built the dam farm land increased by a lot. The valley is in Yosemite National park would deliver power and water to the city over 100 miles away. And that is what happened with San Franciscos initial request to be granted the right to build a dam inside the park. Although Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is the most well-known, it stores less than 25% of the system's water. Reservoir releases also generate hydropower that San Francisco uses for . It was denied in 1903 by Ethan Hitchcock, then Secretary of the Interior, because he felt that a National Park isnt like ordinary wildernesses. John Muir was the main proponent for the preservationists. SOLUTIONS. He argued that conservationists only wished to dam Hetch Hetchy as it would be low cost and saw no value in its natural state. There are already info-structure issues before San Francisco, such as required earthquake retrofits. They did not so much respond to where they stood on the issue, rather they outlined why they like the system as it is; they shared a previously published flyer: Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System. In addition, if the building of two roads were to go near or go through a body of water they would harm the environment of the salmon. Pinchot stated that to be a good forester you must be a good citizen. With having low flow in the Dam it affected the Colorado River, other rivers, canals and dams too. The Hetch Hetchy Valley and Reservoir in Yosemite National Park, a system that is operated by the San Francisco Public . Pros and cons of allowing the Hetch Hetchy Dam to remain in place; Controversy surrounding removal of the Hetch Hetchy Dam; and ; Your position on whether the Hetchy Hetchy Dam should be removed or not. Therefore, this proves that Bybee Logging Company would cause an act of infringement to the Antiquities Act. In the 1800s, that number of tress and forests decreased tremendously because expansion and progression recklessly exploited natural resources by clear-cutting forest to use wood for fuel and building supplies. However, the steep terrain, sharp curves, and heavy . He also gives the specific dilemma that, The Hetchy Dam controversy of the early 1900s was a debate that shaped how America has dealt with the environment since. . 1245). Building a dam on the Tuolumne River at Hetch Hetchy was fiercely debated when it was proposed in the early 1900s, and the reservoir continues to spark controversy today. The trial court ruled in San Franciscos favor in 2016, saying that California courts lack jurisdiction over Hetch Hetchy because the dam there was approved by Congress. The $7 million from the Park Service would, if approved, "provide a preliminary analysis of the advantages of dam retention versus removal and restoration, with emphasis on the potential benefits of . So San Francisco won the day, fair and square. Proceedings before the secretary of the interior. Ultimately, the difference between preservation and conservation was highlight by the. But there are signs all over Yosemite about not drinking the water because of the Giardia parasites. Are you aware of any further testing to pin point the comparatively high rate of contamination in areas serviced by Hetch Hetchy water?. Water quality issues would have to be addressed if Hetch Hetchy water were put into the Don Pedro reservoir, of course. Raquel Coelho de Matos 2 Dissertao de Other articles where Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is discussed: dam: Rise of environmental and economic concerns: San Francisco to build a reservoir in Hetch Hetchy Valley. As well dam for water-tanks the people's cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man." . However, the source of that contamination is in contention and that more analysis was necessary. The pipeline is essentially the fourth step of the Keystone Pipeline System. Due to the fact the logging company would be harming natural lands of the national, According to Jared Prince, The three purposes of the club - recreation, conservation, and education and are still major objectives of the club today (Prince). Then in 1913, when it was reconsidered, the Raker Act was passed. River Plan Too Fishy for my Taste Buds explains how the project will not help at all, something fishy must remain a secret. 1243). Located more than 900 metres (3,000 feet) above sea level, the Hetch Hetchy site offered a good storage location in the Sierra Nevada for water that could be delivered without pumping to San Francisco via an aqueduct nearly . In the essay Thinking Like A Mountain, Aldo Leopold tell us how important is sustainability. See Also:Giving a Dam: Congress Debates Hetch Hetchy, Giving a Dam: Congress Debates Hetch Hetchy. That said, the board does not support either side in the Hetch Hetchy debate. Hidden in Yosemite National Park's peaceful northwest corner, Hetch Hetchy Valley is a treasure worth visiting in all seasons. of 3. Hetch-22. Updated: May 13, 2022. Located at 3,900 feet, Hetch Hetchy boasts one of the longest hiking seasons in the park and is an ideal place for thundering spring waterfalls and wildflower displays. By being able to connect socially and politically Pinchot was able to push his agenda to improve environmental, The plan that has been proposed by Bybee Logging Company is, a reckless proposal, the Bybee Timber Sale, which involves national forest land on the edge of Crater Lake National Park (Environment Oregon). Water data back to 1930 are available online. 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. Aldo Leopold discusses these dangers in his essay, Good Oak, suggesting solutions to prevent them and improve the environment in the process.