Hooray, after only 114 years (sarcasm fully intended), San Francisco will be providing drinkable water to the campground at Hetch Hetchy!
The project will provide water to the National Park Service office as well as to the campground. San Francisco notes that geotechnical analysis is required before drawings can be completed and a contract can be advertised. They hope to start construction in fall 2026 and complete the project by summer 2027.
This development comes as a direct result of the petition Restore Hetch Hetchy filed with the National Park Service and Department of the Interior in 2023.
Section 9(p) of the 1913 Raker Act reads in part “The said grantee shall further lay and maintain a water pipe, or otherwise provide a good and sufficient supply of water for camp purposes at the Meadow, one-third of a mile, more or less, southeasterly from the Hetch Hetchy Dam site.”
Presently, potable water is available 1/2 mile away near the cabins reserved for San Francisco’s elite guests.
It’s hard to comprehend why neither San Francisco nor the National Park Service saw fit to implement this provision of the Raker Act until now. The requirement couldn’t be clearer and we are happy to see it finally being enforced.
Other intentions of the Raker Act – including camping, lodging and boating – are not as clearly prescribed in the statutory provisions. Presently, only those leaving for or returning from a backpacking trip are allowed to use the campground. Restore Hetch Hetchy intends to work cooperatively with the National Park Service and others to ensure that the campground is available to all – and that the campground gets a sorely needed makeover as well.
We haven’t forgotten about other important upgrades to the visitor experience at Hetch Hetchy, including:
- San Francisco’s recreational use of the “chalet” and bunkhouses for its elite guests does not comport with the Raker Act’s instructions that authorizes only structures or buildings necessary or properly incident to the construction, operation, and maintenance of said water-power and electric plants. If these buildings are used for recreation, they should be available to all park visitors.
- We also continue to advocate for boating and fishing as discussed at length by Congress prior to the Raker Act’s passage but not mentioned in the act itself. 37 of the 38 reservoirs in California holding more than 200,000 acre-feet of water allow these activities – only Hetch Hetchy does not!
There’s an irony that Restore Hetch Hetchy advocates for minor infrastructure as we campaign to eliminate the wholly unwarranted and inappropriate reservoir made possible by the O’Shaughnessy Dam. We pledge that, when Hetch Hetchy is restored to its natural splendor, minimal infrastructure will be constructed, welcoming visitors but preventing the gridlock that too often besets Yosemite Valley.
