Study Shows Hetch Hetchy Can Be Restored

Imagine yourself in Hetch Hetchy on a sunny day in June, standing waist-deep in grass and flowers, while the great pines sway dreamily....

Those are the words of the great 19th century naturalist John Muir, who praised Hetch Hetchy Valley as a twin of nearby Yosemite, with comparable soaring cliffs and cascading waterfalls. Today, we have to take Muir's word for it. Hetch Hetchy lies beneath 300 feet of water, the result of San Francisco's damming the valley in the 1920s to create a giant water storage tank for the Bay Area.

But now the city is making plans to mend and upgrade its water-supply infrastructure, which is in serious disrepair. San Francisco's $3.2 billion water system overhaul provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reassess the need for the dam.

Environmental Defense's report details how, with the removal of the dam, Hetch Hetchy Valley could be restored to its former glory. Our analysis, the most in-depth study conducted to date, finds there are cost-effective engineering solutions that would continue to supply the Bay Area with the same high-quality drinking water from the Tuolumne River while returning Hetch Hetchy to Yosemite National Park.

"There's no question that Hetch Hetchy Valley can be restored," says our water analyst Spreck Rosekrans. "The only question is who will have the vision and imagination to lead the way."

A National Treasure, Submerged

Hetch Hetchy Valley lies along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains, 160 miles east of San Francisco and 3,700 feet above sea level. The same glacial forces that sculpted Yosemite Valley created Hetch Hetchy. Glaciers gouged through the Tuolumne River canyon, leaving towering granite domes and cliffs bejeweled with waterfalls that plunge hundreds of feet to the valley floor.

Considering the great height of the snowy mountains about the valley, the climate of Yosemite is remarkably mild. Native Americans named the valley Hetch Hetchy for the grasses that flourished in its park-like meadows. The vegetation is rich and luxuriant. The tallest pines are over 200 feet high; the trunks of some of the oaks are from 6 to 8 feet in diameter; violets, lilies, goldenrods, ceanothus, manzanita, wild rose, and azalea make broad beds and banks of bloom in the spring.

Recognizing the valley's unique character, in 1864 President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill to preserve Hetch Hetchy for "public use, resort and recreation...inalienable for all time." In 1890 Congress granted further protection by expanding Yosemite National Park to include Hetch Hetchy.

The ink on the bill establishing the park had hardly dried, however, before San Francisco proposed damming the valley as a water reservoir. Teddy Roosevelt's administration twice ruled against the idea as "not in keeping with the public interest." But after the devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, a sympathetic Congress acquiesced to the city's request.

The loss of Hetch Hetchy devastated John Muir (who had long fought to safeguard it) and mobilized a new generation of conservationists, determined to protect natural treasures that are too precious to lose.

Valley's Future Could Mirror its Past Splendor

A drought in the 1970s left the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir nearly empty and provided a rare glimpse of lands that had been inundated for decades. In a 1988 National Park Service study, biologists and resource managers used their knowledge of local ecology to forecast what would happen if the dam were removed.

Among their conclusions: The Tuolumne River would reoccupy its original channel and return to pristine condition. Willows would recolonize the riverbanks. Meadows would reappear with grasses, sedges and other plants, thanks to the proximity of seed sources. Animals would return from nearby habitats. Some human assistance would be needed to limit the potential of invasive species and to restore natural contours and soil types, allowing plant communities to reestablish themselves. The "bathtub ring" on the cliffs surrounding the reservoir would disappear naturally over time. After 50 years, forests would be well established, though still developing, with the oldest trees reaching up to 90 feet.

Indeed, it is not fantasy to believe that Hetch Hetchy as it might have been seen by our forebears could be seen again in all its splendor by our children and grandchildren, if Nature were allowed to reclaim Muir's treasured landscape.

The idea of restoring Hetch Hetchy Valley isn't new. President Reagan's Interior Secretary Don Hodel proposed it in 1987, and the National Park Service completed a study showing the valley would recover fully over time. Nor is the idea of removing a dam new. For decades, the public has supported removing obsolete or unwanted dams. At least 465 dams have been removed from the nation's waterways since 1912. California alone has dismantled 47.

Nonetheless, returning Hetch Hetchy Valley to the people will require a broad public effort, and the forthcoming Environmental Defense study helps inform that process. We have joined forces with the Sierra Club and Restore Hetch Hetchy and will soon ask local, state and federal officials to review our findings and involve the public in a plan to restore the valley.

With a little imagination, the cooperation of government officials and the support of dedicated Americans, Hetch Hetchy Valley can recover its natural glory.

Posted: 08-Aug-2007; Updated: 08-Aug-2007