To restore or not to restore, that is the question behind Hetch Hetchy. Can a national park truly be protected and conserved when a dam is present within? This same question was asked of Congress. In 1913 Congress, under the Wilson administration, voted to grant the city of San Francisco the right to dam Hetch Hetchy Valley, within the Yosemite National Park.
In the early 1900's San Francisco required a water source to continue to expand. The city marked the Hetch Hetchy Valley. They however met fierce opposition. A coalition of champions for Hetch Hetchy Valley looked to defend it from destruction. The Spring Valley Water Company, the San Joaquin farmers, and John Muir's Sierra Club defended it from destruction. The first vote to dam Hetch Hetchy in San Francisco failed due to opposition showing the financial and agricultural downfalls and the importance of national parks. The bill looked like it was defeated, but thunder struck twice. The great earthquake of San Francisco hit in 1906 caused fires; the water pipes burst so fire fighters lacked the water required to put down the fire. The city used this tragedy as an opportunity to rally support. The city blamed the spread and destruction of the fire due to a lack of water supply, and claimed if Hetch Hetchy was dammed the fire would have been put down quickly. Public support quickly rallied under this lie and the dam was approved by the city and by Congress with the Raker Act in 1913.
The first wilderness preserved in the western world was in fact Yosemite Valley. Abraham Lincoln in 1864, in the heart of the Civil War, took the time to create the Yosemite Grant to protect Yosemite Valley "for public use, resort, and recreation [that] shall be inalienable for all time," even in a time of great civil conflict. President Theodore Roosevelt, inspired by John Muir and his visit tp Yosemite, later saved all of Yosemite, including Hetch Hetchy Valley, as a national park. After the Hetch Hetchy controversy Congress realized the need for a National Park System. In 1916 the National Park Service was created by Congress with the purpose "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." It is interesting how the NPS came out of the Hetch Hetchy debate. And it is more interesting how damming Hetch Hetchy would contradict the purpose of the NPS.
Today we know the injustices that led to the damming of Hetch Hetchy, but can we right the wrong? Under the Reagan administration the secretary of the Department of Interior, Don Hodel, called for the National Park Service to conduct a two-year study on the restoration of Hetch Hetchy. The study found that if the valley were drained Hetch Hetchy Valley would return to its original state. And by raising current dams lower down the Tuolumne River, the river that runs through Hetch Hetchy Valley, there would be no water lost to the city of San Francisco. The restoration of Hetch Hetchy Valley would also be relatively inexpensive. The restoration of Hetch Hetchy Valley would provide much needed relief to Yosemite Valley. Yosemite Valley receives over four million visitors a year. Hetch Hetchy is currently one of the least visited areas of the park and if restored in the future it would likely lighten the load and unclog the roads of Yosemite Valley.
With this bright news you would assume the city of San Francisco would at least consider giving up its rights to Hetch Hetchy Valley. Well the formerly corrupt city of San Francisco is still corrupt. Former mayor of San Francisco and current senator of California stated in response to the study "All this is for an expanded campground? ... It's dumb, dumb, dumb." And after the George W. Bush admiration proposed another study for the restoration of Hetch Hetchy she stated, "I will do all I can to make sure it isn't included in the final bill. We're not going to remove this dam.” A proposition was placed on the San Francisco city ballot in 2012 to require the city to set aside $8 million to study the removal of the Hetch Hetchy dam and how to restore it. In a city that prides itself in its liberal standing it is outstanding how every media source and city official in all of San Francisco rallied against the proposition. Countless media groups and individuals rallied support to vote against proposition F. In a country with freedom of the press it is very unlikely that all of the major media sources in a major city and all city officials agree on an issue and push for all of the public to vote in the same manner without some degree of corruption. This unification of media and elected officials in San Francisco is reminiscent of the corruption and lies used to dam Hetch Hetchy in the first place.So why should we turn to the same corrupt city to restore what they have decimated?
In The Yosemite John Muir compares Hetch Hetchy Valley to the Yosemite Valley, only lesser known because it is hard to access. If we were cable of destroying a valley of such beauty once, why would we stop there? Why not dam Yosemite Valley itself? If beauty cannot stop our destruction what can? As long as the Hetch Hetchy dam stands, it allows other national parks to be destroyed. There will always be people looking to exploit the last dollar out of any rock or market they can squeeze. Let us not restore Hetch Hetchy for ourselves. Let us restore it for generations to come. Let us restore it for the namesake of our National Park System, America’s best idea. Let us restore it for America. And for all Americans who came before us and those to come. “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.[1]”
[1] John Muir, The Yosemite
