![]() The Hetch-Hetchy controversy is still important today. The dam was finally constructed in 1923 and remains in place to this day. However, Muir lost the battle to save Hetch-Hetchy, and in 1913 Congress passed the Raker Act which allowed the city authorities to flood the valley. In other words, there was no shortage of alternative supplies. ![]() ![]() There was no doubt that San Francisco needed water to supply its rapidly growing population, but Muir and his fellow campaigners were meticulous in pointing out all the other rivers in California which might be used as a water supply for the city: the Stanislaus River, the Eel River, the Sacramento River, Lake Tahoe, the Yuba River, the Feather River, the American River, the Mokelumne River, the Cosumnes River, Clear Lake and the Bay Shore Gravels. Because the river and its valley were in a national park, the Yosemite National Park, permission had to be granted at a federal level and John Muir mounted a vigorous campaign to save Hetch-Hetchy from being flooded which would happen if the city built its proposed dam to facilitate the storing and utilization of the river’s water. The city had first raised the possibility of acquiring these rights much earlier. After the earthquake of 1906, the city of San Francisco applied to acquire the water rights to the Hetch-Hetchy River. Populous cities need reliable water supplies for their inhabitants and San Francisco was growing at an alarming rate. At least, Hetch-Hetchy did until it was flooded in 1923 to provide cheap water for San Francisco. The valley runs parallel to the Yosemite River Valley and both valleys are glacial valleys, resulting in an exquisitely beautiful landscape of waterfalls, smooth granite outcrops and a profusion of wild flora and fauna on the fertile valley floor. Its strikingly unusual name comes from the indigenous people of the area and was used to describe the edible grass that grows there. Greenpeace? Friends of the Earth? Eco-warriors? What can they possibly have in common with an eccentric Californian fruit farmer of Scottish extraction? Or, to put it another way, when you turn the faucet, do you ever wonder where your water comes from? If you live in the San Francisco Bay area, then your water probably comes from Hetch Hetchy, which is located in the Yosemite National Park.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |