Restore Hetch Hetchy
Encyclopedia
Restore Hetch Hetchy is a grassroots
non-profit organization seeking to restore the Hetch Hetchy Valley
in Yosemite National Park
to its original condition.
Even before the establishment of Yosemite National Park, the city of San Francisco began considering the Tuolumne River and Hetch Hetchy Valley as a possible location for a reliable water source. This sparked a social and political debate which lasted until the issue was brought before Congress. John Muir
, a naturalist and president of the Sierra Club
, fought vigorously against the proposition of flooding the valley, stating, “Dam Hetch Hetchy! As well dam for water-tanks the people’s cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man."
In the late 1980s, and in response to an initiative by the Reagan Administration the national Sierra Club created a group dedicated to restoring Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park called the Hetch Hetchy Restoration Task Force. In 1999 the Club recognized the need for a more focused independent organization and created a separate non-profit organization called Restore Hetch Hetchy.
For ten years, RHH focused on building a body of scientific evidence demonstrating the Hetch Hetchy Valley could be restored without harming the interests of the City of San Francisco. Multiple organizations including the State of California, the University of California, Davis, the Environmental Defense Fund, the federal Bureau of Reclamation, the National Park Service and the University of Wisconsin all issued reports supporting restoration.
Recognizing that the citizens of San Francisco could unilaterally restore Hetch Hetchy Valley without an act of Congress to reverse the Raker Act, RHH opened an office there in 2009. It currently works to educate San Francisco residents and others about the opportunity to bring Hetch Hetchy Valley back to life.
Because the reservoir in Hetch Hetchy is part of a unitary water-diversion and electic-generating system on the Tuolumne River that includes the much larger downstream reservoir, Don Pedro (partially funded by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission), as well as SFPUC's own Cherry and Eleanor Reservoirs near Hetch Hetchy, RHH filed comments in 2011 before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on the 2015 relicensing of Don Pedro Reservoir.
Grassroots
A grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...
non-profit organization seeking to restore the Hetch Hetchy Valley
Hetch Hetchy Valley
Hetch Hetchy Valley is a glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in California. It is currently completely flooded by O'Shaughnessy Dam, forming the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. The Tuolumne River fills the reservoir. Upstream from the valley lies the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne. The reservoir...
in Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park is a United States National Park spanning eastern portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in east central California, United States. The park covers an area of and reaches across the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountain chain...
to its original condition.
History
The Hetch Hetchy Valley was sculpted by glaciers as recently as 10,000 years ago (like nearby Yosemite Valley). It has an elevation of 3,800 feet above sea level and is 3 miles long in an east to west orientation. The Hetch Hetchy Valley is in the northwest corner of Yosemite National Park which was established in 1890.Even before the establishment of Yosemite National Park, the city of San Francisco began considering the Tuolumne River and Hetch Hetchy Valley as a possible location for a reliable water source. This sparked a social and political debate which lasted until the issue was brought before Congress. John Muir
John Muir
John Muir was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, and early advocate of preservation of wilderness in the United States. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, have been read by millions...
, a naturalist and president of the Sierra Club
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...
, fought vigorously against the proposition of flooding the valley, stating, “Dam Hetch Hetchy! As well dam for water-tanks the people’s cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man."
In the late 1980s, and in response to an initiative by the Reagan Administration the national Sierra Club created a group dedicated to restoring Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park called the Hetch Hetchy Restoration Task Force. In 1999 the Club recognized the need for a more focused independent organization and created a separate non-profit organization called Restore Hetch Hetchy.
For ten years, RHH focused on building a body of scientific evidence demonstrating the Hetch Hetchy Valley could be restored without harming the interests of the City of San Francisco. Multiple organizations including the State of California, the University of California, Davis, the Environmental Defense Fund, the federal Bureau of Reclamation, the National Park Service and the University of Wisconsin all issued reports supporting restoration.
Recognizing that the citizens of San Francisco could unilaterally restore Hetch Hetchy Valley without an act of Congress to reverse the Raker Act, RHH opened an office there in 2009. It currently works to educate San Francisco residents and others about the opportunity to bring Hetch Hetchy Valley back to life.
Because the reservoir in Hetch Hetchy is part of a unitary water-diversion and electic-generating system on the Tuolumne River that includes the much larger downstream reservoir, Don Pedro (partially funded by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission), as well as SFPUC's own Cherry and Eleanor Reservoirs near Hetch Hetchy, RHH filed comments in 2011 before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on the 2015 relicensing of Don Pedro Reservoir.
Related Organizations
The following organizations support the restoration of Hetch Hetchy Valley :- The Sierra ClubSierra ClubThe Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...
- Environmental Defense Fund
- Natural Resources Defense CouncilNatural Resources Defense CouncilThe Natural Resources Defense Council is a New York City-based, non-profit, non-partisan international environmental advocacy group, with offices in Washington DC, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Beijing...
(NRDC) - Tuolumne Me-Wuk Tribal Council
- American Rivers
- Planning and Conservation League
- EarthjusticeEarthjusticeEarthjustice is a non-profit public interest law firm based in the United States that specializes in cases protecting natural resources, safeguarding public health, and promoting clean energy...
- Mono Lake CommitteeMono Lake CommitteeThe Mono Lake Committee is an environmental organization based in Lee Vining, California in the United States. Its mission is to preserve Mono Lake, by reducing diversions of water from the Eastern Sierra watersheds by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power .The Committee was founded in...
- National Wildlife FederationNational Wildlife FederationThe National Wildlife Federation is the United States' largest private, nonprofit conservation education and advocacy organization, with over four million members and supporters, and 48 state and territorial affiliated organizations...
- Natural Heritage Institute
- Northern California Council, Federation of Fly Fishers
- Ohlone Audubon Society
- Central Sierra Audubon Society
- Save The Bay
- Sierra Nevada AllianceSierra Nevada AllianceThe Sierra Nevada Alliance is a network of conservation groups encompassing 24 watersheds of the 650 kilometer-long Sierra Nevada in California and Nevada...
- South Yuba River Citizens League
- The Bay Institute
- Urban Creeks CouncilUrban Creeks CouncilThe Urban Creeks Council is a Berkeley, California non-profit organization that promotes stewardship of San Francisco Bay creeks and habitat restoration around them...
- Eastern Madera County Chamber of Commerce