In a discussion that will continue for a long time, and should, more facts come out about the restoration.
An excerpt.
Hetch Hetchy plan feasible, report says
But cost to restore the valley could be much higher than estimated.
By Matt Weiser -- Bee Staff Writer Published 12:01 am PDT Thursday, July 20, 2006
Efforts to restore Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park got a boost Wednesday from a long-awaited state study, which finds the idea is "technically feasible" but possibly much more expensive than previous estimates.
Demolishing Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and providing another water supply for 2.4 million San Francisco Bay Area residents could cost between $3 billion and $10 billion, the report finds. Even the low end is double what independent studies have estimated.
The state's broad range of costs reflects huge uncertainties about the project.
"Clearly, we know there's nothing here that says it's infeasible technically," said Gary Bardini, project leader of the Hetch Hetchy Restoration Study for the state Department of Water Resources. "But this project would take a very, very long time. It's a very ambitious project."
Environmental groups cheered the report, saying it verifies that restoring one of the nation's natural wonders is feasible.
"It was a beautiful, beautiful place. One of the most precious on all the planet Earth," said Jerry Cadagan of Restore Hetch Hetchy, based in Sonora. "As a society, we should be big enough to admit a mistake and take the steps to correct that mistake."
Sierra Club founder John Muir called Hetch Hetchy the "wonderful exact counterpart" to nearby Yosemite Valley, one of the most spectacular national park attractions in America.
But Hetch Hetchy was flooded in 1923 with the completion of O'Shaughnessey Dam, owned and operated by the city and county of San Francisco. The 312-foot-high dam stores 360,000 acre-feet of water that is used by several Bay Area cities.
Restoration has been a dream of environmental groups ever since. The idea gained strength in 2004 after UC Davis and the groups Restore Hetch Hetchy and Environmental Defense produced studies showing the valley could be restored, without reducing Bay Area water supplies, at a cost of about $1.6 billion.
