Q&A: California Considers Restoring a Prized Yosemite Valley

Senior Water Analyst Spreck Rosekrans Answers Questions About Hetch Hetchy

Posted: 11-Jul-2005; Updated: 11-Jul-2005

July 14 could mark the beginning of a monumental shift in America's environmental movement. Eighty-two years after the flooding of one of Yosemite National Park's prized valleys -- Hetch Hetchy -- California is considering restoring it. A team of state experts is reviewing existing studies on the benefits, costs and impacts of restoring Hetch Hetchy Valley, including  Environmental Defense’s Paradise Regained: Solutions for Restoring Yosemite's Hetch Hetchy Valley (published in September 2004). Environmental Defense's Spreck Rosekrans, one of the study's authors, brings us up to date on what this means for San Franciscans, Californians and all Americans.

Q: What is the importance of the review California is undertaking as it considers restoring Hetch Hetchy Valley?
Rosekrans: Last November, the Schwarzenegger administration noted the importance of the Hetch Hetchy Valley to our national heritage and acknowledged that pursuing its restoration would be in the public interest. Prior to this, the suggestion that Hetch Hetchy be restored and the reservoir removed had been a radical, or at the very least, controversial idea. Now the state is taking an even-handed approach to assessing the feasibility of such an action and have initiated the necessary public process that must take place if Hetch Hetchy is to be restored.

Q: Why is Hetch Hetchy important to the nation as a whole and how does it fit into America's environmental story? Rosekrans: In the late 19th century, San Francisco proposed building a dam in Yosemite National Park's Hetch Hetchy Valley to secure a reliable water supply. But President Theodore Roosevelt's administration twice denied the requests as not keeping with the public interest. In 1906, however, a powerful earthquake, followed by a devastating fire struck the city. Though it was a series of broken pipes and not a lack of water supply that rendered San Francisco unable to fight the fire, the city's plight helped generate sympathy for its plea to build a dam within Yosemite National Park. In 1913 when the proposal was brought before Congress, it still met considerable opposition with more then 100 newspapers editorializing against the project. This was the first time that the American public stood up in a big way in the name of conservation -- the first time Americans said no to unfettered development of its resources. As we know, the conservationists did not prevail in this initial battle: Congress passed the Raker Act in 1913, authorizing San Francisco to build the dam. Just three years later, Congress amended the National Park Act prohibiting hydroelectric projects within national parks. In other words, it acted to prevent the possibility that a jewel like Hetch Hetchy ever be spoiled again. The debate over Hetch Hetchy turned the Sierra Club from an outing club into a political organization, spawning the modern environmental movement. It was a seminal moment in American history.

Q: What is the July 14 public workshop in Sacramento and why is it important?
Rosekrans: This is California’s first public forum since it announced last year that it would look into potential restoration of Hetch Hetchy Valley. A panel of experts from state agencies will present an initial review of the findings laid out in our Environmental Defense report as well as those in other feasibility studies. The state's team will discuss its assessment of the proposed solutions for water supply, water treatment, hydropower and ecosystem restoration. The workshop will also afford an opportunity for stakeholders -- both in favor of and opposed to restoration -- to make public statements. It will be a presentation of preliminary findings -- essentially a midterm report -- which will be followed up by a final review in late summer.

Q: Can you give a quick rundown of Hetch Hetchy's water system?
Rosekrans: The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) operates a system that delivers water to San Francisco and other communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. Only 15% of this water is derived from Bay Area streams and reservoirs. The remaining 85% comes from the Tuolumne River watershed where the city owns and operates Hetch Hetchy, Cherry and Eleanor Reservoirs (which store water and supply hydropower) and maintains substantial storage space at Don Pedro (through a water bank).

These reservoirs allow San Francisco to divert supplies during those times of the year when the Tuolumne River is not flowing -- typically late summer and fall -- and to store water for dry years when river flows are minimal.

 

 

Q: How does Hetch Hetchy's restoration impact the current water system?
Rosekrans: We have found that using storage in other reservoirs, San Francisco could meet more than 95% of its water demand without Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. It would only need newly developed supplies in one out of five years.

 

We are proposing three key options to make up for the 5% shortfall -- all of which are being successfully used throughout California by other urban water agencies: 1) building additional surface storage nearer to the Bay Area, 2) exchanging groundwater and surface water supplies with agricultural communities in dry years, 3) and simply purchasing supplies from agriculture in dry years.

The fact that cities in northern and southern California have been using these solutions for 20 years is compelling evidence that they can be used to meet future needs. We also believe that a strong conservation program and an aggressive water reclamation program (reusing water for non-potable uses) should be part of San Francisco's future plans.

Q: So there would be very little difference were the reservoir to be removed today?
Rosekrans: It is important to remember that Hetch Hetchy does not create water. It is simply one of a number of reservoirs that store the Tuolumne River’s supplies.  Don Pedro Reservoir, just downstream, alone holds almost six times as much water. Primarily we've looked at possibilities of moving the storage at Hetch Hetchy to alternative sites.

Q: Has California been developing new water supplies?
Rosekrans: In the last 15 years a significant amount of new storage has been developed in California -- the equivalent to at least 17 Hetch Hetchys. As we have developed these new supplies, we've also identified a few places where it has made sense to put some water back into the environment, mostly to restore wetlands or native fisheries, including several species of salmon. In the case of Hetch Hetchy, we are engaging in a different kind of restoration project: restoring a national park. We are confident that the water can be replaced.

Q: What are some of the biggest stumbling blocks?
Rosekrans: What's perhaps alarming to some people when we're talking about removing a reservoir is the fact that, in the face of increased population and climate change, water will become increasingly scarce, particularly in a place like California. Thus, what we need is greater water supply, not less. However, Hetch Hetchy’s contribution to water supply is not as great as people think. The changes in rules for operating our larger reservoirs and their water supplies have had a far greater effect on water supply than removing this medium-sized reservoir would. Additional water has been found to make these other restoration projects possible and it can be found to accommodate Hetch Hetchy’s restoration as well.

Replacement supplies for the lost hydropower can also be found. With power there are even more options -- it's more a question of finding the money and having the will to replace the power. Our analysis is primarily based on replacing power with improved efficiency and renewable resources.

Spreck Rosekrans is a senior water analyst with Environmental Defense. Since the late 1980s he has reviewed California's water planning models to evaluate how to build and manage water systems to best deliver water to farms and cities and protect rivers and streams. In 2004 Rosekrans applied these techniques to create a water supply simulation model that served as a basis for the Environmental Defense report, Paradise Regained: Solutions for Restoring Yosemite's Hetch Hetchy Valley.