Good perspective on the ongoing argument about restoring the Hetch Hetchy Valley.
An excerpt.
Undo Hetch Hetchy's Dam Shame
Bay Area folks claim L.A. stole the Owens Valley, but San Francisco has to do some atoning of its own.
By Bill Stall
BILL STALL is a contributing editor to Opinion.
July 27, 2006
SAN FRANCISCANS have long castigated Los Angeles for sneaking into the Owens Valley a century ago and "stealing" its water. But Bay Area folks become apoplectic when anyone suggests tampering with their water supply, the source of which is a far greater infamy than the Owens Valley dust-up.
Early in the 20th century, Los Angeles officials quietly bought up virtually all the private property, and the water rights, in the Owens Valley. As some say, they stole the water fair and square. In hindsight (and now that Mono Lake, upstream from the valley, has been protected), there has even been an unintended environmental benefit: A 60-mile-long recreation mecca, rimmed by 14,000-foot-plus peaks barely touched by development.
There was nothing surreptitious about San Francisco's water grab. Pure power politics forced the Raker Act through Congress in 1913, giving San Francisco the right to dam the Tuolumne River and flood one of the most magnificent valleys anywhere — the seven-mile-long Hetch Hetchy in Yosemite National Park. Since the 1920s, the Hetch Hetchy Valley floor has been covered by more than 300 feet of water behind O'Shaughnessy Dam. By tunnel and pipeline, the water travels 160 miles across the Central Valley and the Pacific Coast Range to the Bay Area. Hydropower generated by the Hetch Hetchy project parallels the aqueducts.
Some have agitated for years to take out the dam and restore Hetch Hetchy Valley. The idea gathered momentum in 1981 when Donald Hodel, who was Ronald Reagan's secretary of the Interior, added his voice. Studies in recent years have indicated that the idea might be feasible. And last week, a survey by the state Department of Water Resources confirmed that it could be done, at a cost of $3 billion to $10 billion.
The report, commissioned by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, does not make a specific recommendation, but it does note what would be gained. "While beauty is a subjective concept, perhaps the most aesthetically striking characteristics of a restored Hetch Hetchy Valley would be the monolithic size of the sheer granite cliffs, the expansiveness of the open space from one side of the valley to the other and the valley's waterfalls that cascade down from impressive heights."
The report states the obvious: Far more study is needed. That would cost $20 million, take several years and involve the federal government. It's a small price to pay for uncovering a state and national treasure. And although you can't put a precise dollar value on a restored Hetch Hetchy, a legislative study quoted in the state report calculated "total annual use benefits" ranging from $15 million a year to $26 million.
