What remains though is the vital discussion we are having about the importance we continue to place on preserving, protecting, and strengthening our natural resources, and that is a good discussion.
Here's a link to the report: http://hetchhetchy.water.ca.gov/docs/Hetch_Hetchy_Restoration_Study_Report.pdf
And an excerpt from the editorial about it.Editorial: Half a Hetchy study
State's review doesn't resolve debate
Published 12:01 am PDT Thursday, July 20, 2006
The Schwarzenegger administration's new analysis of restoring Hetch Hetchy, the lesser known of Yosemite National Park's magnificent valleys, provides ammunition for both sides in the debate.
Hetch Hetchy, with its stunning granite cliffs and waterfalls, is less well known than Yosemite Valley. It has been underwater since 1923, serving as a source of water and hydroelectric power for San Francisco.
This new study suggests that the benefits of draining the dam could easily outweigh the cost of restoring the valley and impounding the necessary water supplies outside the national park. The study also suggests the opposite could be true.
In keeping with the history of the Hetch Hetchy controversy, San Francisco launched the spin before the study was even released in hopes of killing the idea. Sorry.
This was never intended to be an exhaustive, definitive, end-the-debate study. This study was supposed to provide a road to clarifying the conflicting public values posed by the choice of keeping the valley underwater or returning it to the American people.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Department of Water Resources took the lead on this study.
Given few financial resources to accomplish the task, it did an admirable job overall. (Our quibbles will come later.) It looked at existing research from the University of California, Davis; Environmental Defense; Restore Hetch Hetchy; and other groups on how to restore the valley and restructure the water system. It found no "fatal flaws" in the concept, but found it "premature" to make a conclusion about the idea.
The study's neutrality was utterly lost on U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who falsely claimed that the report "confirms that dismantling the Yosemite dam and draining the Hetch Hetchy reservoir are unwarranted."
Is is no secret that Feinstein's mind is closed on the issue of Hetch Hetchy. She is a former mayor of San Francisco and is fast becoming a living caricature of the city's residents, who care passionately about the environment, except when it comes to Yosemite. Even so, her office's rush to mischaracterize this study is disappointing.
