Should they drain Hetch Hetchy?
Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 7:40 am
Posted on Thu, Jul. 20, 2006
Should they drain Hetch Hetchy?
REPORT: IT'S DOABLE BUT RESTORING SPOT CARRIES HIGH PRICE
By Paul Rogers
Mercury News
It is technically feasible to tear down the dam and drain the reservoir at Yosemite National Park's Hetch Hetchy Valley, a wilderness area considered as magnificent as Yosemite Valley before it was submerged 82 years ago, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration announced Wednesday.
But it would cost $3 billion to $10 billion.
And because the Hetch Hetchy system provides water to 2.4 million Bay Area residents, years of new studies would be needed first, according to a report from the state Department of Water Resources.
Despite no funding source and adamant opposition from the city of San Francisco, Bay Area business groups and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., environmentalists cheered the study -- the first time a California governor has considered tearing down parts of a major water project. They said it provides new momentum to their decades-long crusade.
``We are on course to correct a terrible environmental tragedy,'' said Tom Graff, California director for Environmental Defense, a conservation group based in Oakland. ``In the 21st century, we have better solutions for water storage and power supply. If we don't have to use one of America's spectacular natural cathedrals as a reservoir, we shouldn't.''
Opponents said the study reinforces how far-fetched and impractical the idea is.
``Hetch Hetchy is a critical source of water and power for the state of California,'' Feinstein said. ``Draining the reservoir would be far too expensive and leave the state vulnerable to both drought and blackout.''
Located about 15 miles north of Yosemite Valley, Hetch Hetchy is named after a Miwok Indian word that refers to a type of grass growing in the Sierra Nevada. Similar to Yosemite Valley, which draws 4 million tourists a year, it is framed by granite walls, waterfalls and pine forests, and once had rich wildlife and the Tuolumne River meandering through its meadows.
Quake influential
After the 1906 earthquake sparked fires that burned more than 500 blocks of downtown San Francisco, Congress eventually approved in 1913 long-running demands from San Francisco leaders to construct O'Shaughnessy Dam in Hetch Hetchy Valley.
It was finished in 1924 and the valley submerged.
Today, the water -- a snowmelt so pure it doesn't have to be treated -- flows for 160 miles through gravity-fed pipes to the Bay Area. The project's most prominent local feature is Crystal Springs Reservoir along Interstate 280 in San Mateo County.
Its water serves San Francisco and 28 other cities, including Palo Alto, Los Altos Hills, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale and Mountain View. San Jose receives only 3 percent of its water from Hetch Hetchy. Most San Jose water comes from groundwater and from San Francisco Bay's delta.
Environmentalists have opposed a dam at Hetch Hetchy since Sierra Club founder John Muir unsuccessfully fought to block construction 95 years ago, calling the valley ``one of nature's rarest and most precious mountain temples.''
Two years ago, new momentum gathered when Environmental Defense and the University of California-Davis released studies showing the project was feasible, and when Tom Philp, an editorial writer for the Sacramento Bee, won the Pulitzer Prize for his editorials championing the restoration effort.
Schwarzenegger agreed to study the issue.
Wednesday's report examined 30 years of studies. It does not endorse or oppose draining the reservoir, but says from an engineering standpoint it could be done and the water and power replaced elsewhere.
Steps necessary
It notes that if the reservoir, which holds 360,000 acre feet of water -- enough for 1.8 million people for a year -- were drained, new water storage would have to be found. That could include everything from new groundwater storage to expanding reservoirs such as Don Pedro in Tuolumne County, Calaveras in Santa Clara County or Los Vaqueros in Contra Costa County. Also, the hydropower electricity produced by the project -- about 400 megawatts -- would have to be replaced, probably by building power plants.
``There's nothing in here that says from a technical standpoint, it is infeasible,'' said Gary Bardini, the state's chief hydrologist. ``But ultimately, whether the public is willing to commit to a project of this nature, we can't say.''
Restoration process
A 2003 study by UC-Davis found that plants and grasses would return in two years, shrubs and small trees 10 years later, with large trees returning in 50 to 100 years. The bathtub ring -- bleaching of the granite walls -- around the valley would remain for 100 years or more until lichen and natural processes faded it.
Because the reservoir is on federal land, it would require an act of Congress to drain it, Bardini said.
Schwarzenegger was noncommittal when asked about the idea Wednesday in San Francisco.
``It is in the studying stage,'' he said. ``We are looking at it, and there are many more questions that have to be answered. I think this will go on for a while because there's a lot we don't know.''
Indeed, Sue Sims, a spokeswoman for the Department of Water Resources, said the next step doesn't lie with the state but with the federal government.
One state lawmaker, Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, D-Davis, said however, that in August she will hold hearings in Sacramento on the issue.
``The possibility of restoring this national wonder while meeting California's water and power needs is worthy of consideration,'' she said. ``We've asked people to keep an open mind.''
Wolk noted that Los Angeles for years opposed restoring Mono Lake in the eastern Sierra, but finally agreed to take less water from it after losing court battles. Today it has made up the difference with water conservation.
Officials at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, who are working on a $4.3 billion upgrade to the Hetch Hetchy system through 2015, said they oppose the idea because the costs are huge, water quality from other sources wouldn't be as good, and billions for new filtration and pumping plants would have to be spent. Also, they noted, tax money is needed for more pressing projects, such as shoring delta levees and building roads and schools.
``Anything is feasible if you are willing to spend a virtually unlimited amount of money,'' said San Francisco PUC spokesman Tony Winnicker. ``This is a fairly whimsical proposal. There's no state analysis that says we need less water storage and less clean power -- both of which this system provides.''
Nevertheless environmentalists beamed.
``I'm 68 years old. I've got four children and five grandchildren,'' said Jerry Cadagan, board chairman of Restore Hetch Hetchy, a Sonora group. ``We owe it to the next generation. Let's leave them a second Yosemite Valley.''
To see the full report, go to http://www.hetchhetchy.water.ca.gov
Contact Paul Rogers at progers@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5045.