by Spreck | Feb 1, 2026 | Uncategorized
Sierra News Online posted one of our favorite pictures – the snapshot taken by Matt Stoecker during the filming of Patagonia’s “Damnation”. The inset is Isaiah West Taber’s iconic 1908 photo of Hetch Hetchy.
Our Cherry Solutions report shows that, with reduced demand, San Francisco’s Regional Water System would be extraordinarily reliable even if water were no long stored at Hetch Hetchy and the valley were returned to its original splendor.
Our message is getting through in the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada, with two nice stories this week:
We hope to get additional coverage, especially in the Bay Area, and look forward to a response from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission – even though they are highly unlikely to concur with our findings.
San Francisco’s experience is consistent with that of urban water agencies throughout California, as reported in “Water Demand Projection Accuracy and Demand Management Trends in California Cities”, a peer-reviewed journal article by researchers Johanna Capone and Landon Marston in the Virginia Tech Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. They note:
“Municipal water suppliers consistently overestimated future water demand, with one California study finding 98% of water demand forecasts overestimated water demand by an average of 25% (Abraham et al., 2020), highlighting a critical and persistent inaccuracy in water resource planning.”
These findings are good news for California’s cities as well as for our campaign to Restore Hetch Hetchy.
Elsewhere in California, however, water supply struggles continue. Groundwater overdraft continues in many parts of the Central Valley. If you include the amount of water needed to grow the food we eat to what we use in our homes, calculations of personal water consumption are increased several times over.
On the Colorado River the longstanding discrepancy between allocation and availability is coming to a head.
California’s current allocation of 4.4 million acre-feet per year from the Colorado River is exactly 20 times what San Francisco’s Regional Water System has used over the past decade! Hetch Hetchy is small potatoes indeed when it comes to water supply but huge when it comes to the legacy of our national parks and the the opportunity for Yosemite.
The ongoing negotiations over allocations of limited Colorado River water between the seven “Basin States” and Mexico is ongoing. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum called a summit meeting of Governors to try to break the logjam – to no avail so far.
Passions run high among the Basin States, who see the terms of the 1922 Colorado River Compact (“The Law of the River”) as chiseled in stone. The Colorado River’s flow in the 21st century has averaged only 12.5 million acre-feet, far less that both the 18 million acre-feet when the Compact was created and the 16.5 million acre-feet presently allocated to the Basin States and to Mexico.
We wish the Secretary luck, but guess the matter will eventually be decided in court.
by Spreck | Jan 25, 2026 | Uncategorized
It was great to see media coverage for our Cherry Solution report.
Both articles are short but on point – noting the unprecedented history of allowing a dam in a national park, and that sharply increased demand across its Regional Water System makes it far easier for San Francisco to do the right thing – to relinquish the reservoir so the valley can be restored.
There is widespread support for restoration (see below, for example), albeit to date reluctance to address the issue in Congress and resistance among officials in San Francisco. This needs to change. Hetch Hetchy can be restored and San Francisco can get all the water it needs from the Tuolumne River. It’s a win-win. We are hopeful that time may be right for the San Francisco Mayor and Congress to take advantage of the opportunity at hand.
In 2019, Probolsky Research, an independent firm, asked the following question of 903 respondents:
California’s Yosemite National Park once included two glacier-carved valleys – Yosemite Valley along the Merced River and Hetch Hetchy Valley along the Tuolumne River. In 1913, Congress allowed San Francisco to dam Hetch Hetchy Valley and turn it into a reservoir for the City.
Should Yosemite National Park’s Hetch Hetchy Valley be restored, if it can be accomplished without impacting San Francisco’s water supply?
61.5% of likely voters responded yes.
See summary for a demographic breakdown.
Go to Hetch Hetchy – it is easy to imagine the glory of restoring the valley. Photo: Matt Stoecker
by Spreck | Jan 19, 2026 | Uncategorized
With sharply reduced demand over the past decade, San Francisco can meet its full water demands without storing water in Hetch Hetchy Reservoir – simply by connecting Cherry Reservoir to its conveyance system!
This finding is the conclusion of our groundbreaking new report: Restoring Hetch Hetchy: The Cherry Solution. Since Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is no longer needed to provide water to San Francisco and its customers, the original justification for allowing a reservoir in Yosemite National Park is invalid. The reservoir should be emptied and the valley restored.
The Cherry Solution is short, but rich in detail and based on detailed hydrologic modeling. Restore Hetch Hetchy invites supporters, skeptics and opponents alike to give it a hard look. More information about the report is posted on the Cherry Solution page.
See today’s press release – New Report: Water Demand is Down, Connect Cherry Reservoir, Restore Hetch Hetchy.
San Francisco owns and stores water in Cherry and Eleanor Reservoirs, but does not deliver those supplies to its customers. Under our proposal, the City would install a short intertie which would allow both full water deliveries and the return of Hetch Hetchy Valley to its natural splendor.
We have sent The Cherry Solution to all members of Congress as well as to a plethora of officials in San Francisco and other Bay Area cities – accompanied by letters cosigned by former Secretary of the Interior Donald P. Hodel, former State Senator Lois Wolk and Robert Hanna – great great grandson of John Muir. The report, letters and other information are posted on our Cherry Solution page. If you’d like a hard copy but haven’t received one let us know by email to admin@hetchhetchy.org.
The Cherry Solution is a relatively simple fix. Until recently, Restore Hetch Hetchy has advocated that San Francisco pursue supplies via groundwater banking, recycling, new reservoirs, transfers and conservation (See, for example, Yosemite’s Opportunity). But with substantially reduced demand, none of those options are necessary.
It’s time for Congress and San Francisco to work cooperatively to restore Hetch Hetchy Valley and make Yosemite National park whole again.
by Spreck | Jan 17, 2026 | Uncategorized
JOIN US AT HETCH HETCHY IN MAY
On Saturday, May 2, 2026, join staff and board members as we visit Hetch Hetchy. It’s a great time of year to see the canyon and hike out to Wapama Falls (or as far as you’d like to go) and have dinner at the Evergreen Lodge.
Last year was wonderful – even though we had to dodge a few snowflakes. We are expecting a warmer weekend but can’t promise!
The Evergreen is a great place to stay – though it is pricey and a two night minimum is required during May (use the code RHH26 will get a small discount).
Whether you stay at the Evergreen or not, let us know if you’d like to join us – email admin@hetchhetchy.org or spreck@hetchhetchy.org. We will send details later but we do plan to be at the lodge both Friday and Saturday evening and to spend most of the day Saturday at Hetch Hetchy.
DEMAND FOR WATER IS DOWN
Water use in the San Francisco Regional Water System is down. The average consumption in San Francisco and among its “suburban” customers has decreased 19% over the last decade, from 273 thousand acre-feet per year (TAF) to 220 TAF – 19%. See Figure 2 below.
The 19% decrease is perhaps even more surprising compared to San Francisco’s projections. 20 years ago the City projected its total system water use would be 339 TAF – so today’s use is more than a third below what the City thought it might be.
San Francisco itself uses only about 1/3 of the water provided by its Regional Water System. 2/3 of the water is used by its customers, organized as the Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency (BAWSCA), including Palo Alto, Hayward, San Mateo etc. (Groveland and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are small customers not represented at BAWSCA.)
In December the Sierra Club wrote to BAWSCA comparing its actual water use with its projections. See below. The chart shows six projections – all increasing over time while actual use decreases. (The figures are in millions of gallons per day (MGD) and reflect the agencies’ total use including sources other than the San Francisco Regional Water System.)
The bottom line here is that the plethora of water storage within the San Francisco Regional Water System is not necessary to meet its demand. Water storage was the justification for damming Hetch Hetchy Valley a century ago, but that justification is no longer valid. It is time for san Francisco to relinquish Hetch Hetchy reservoir and to restore the valley.
by Spreck | Nov 21, 2025 | Uncategorized
Our 2025 Fall Newsletter has gone to mailboxes and is available online. If you’d like a hardcopy but haven’t received one, let us know by emailing admin@hetchhetchy.org.
We are planning to make expanded use of our water taste test soon, as well as provide a new approach to water and power alternatives. Stay posted. Also, We had to cancel meetings with the National Park Service due to the government shutdown – bad timing, but we will be rescheduling soon.
It was great to catch up with Secretary Donald P. Hodel in October. Hodel proposed restoring Hetch Hetchy in 1987 and remains a strong supporter. He is looking forward to more good news in 2026.
Former Secretary of the Interior Donald P. Hodel with RHH Executive Director Spreck Rosekrans – October 2025.
We have two events planned in 2026. Details will come soon, but save the dates now if you are interested.
- On Saturday, May 2, 2026, join staff and board members as we visit Hetch Hetchy. It’s a great time of year to see the canyon and hike out to Wapama Falls (or as far as you’d like to go) and have dinner at the Evergreen Lodge.
- On Saturday, October 17, we will have our annual dinner at the Lafayette Veterans Memorial Center. Please join us.
Also, please consider supporting Restore Hetch Hetchy’s Giving Tuesday Match – we are about halfway there! All gifts up to a total of $10,000, received between November 18 and December 2, will be matched 1:1 = 100% by a generous $10,000 match from an anonymous RHH donor. Our goal for Giving Tuesday is $20,000.
