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.
Yosemite’s Hetch Hetchy Valley lies underwater. Our mission is to relocate the reservoir so we can return the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park to its natural splendor ─ while continuing to meet the water and power needs of all communities that depend on the Tuolumne River.
This week we are sharing America’s Lost National Park by Aidin Robbins, a film that has received more than 400,000 views since it was posted just 2 weeks ago. Robbins describes Hetch Hetchy as what “just might be the most important landscape in the United States”.
Robbins expertly weaves the story of Hetch Hetchy – its damming and the aftermath (the National Park Service Act and rejections of proposed dams in Yellowstone, Glacier and Grand Canyon). The Hetch Hetchy experience helped our nation to take our parks seriously and to avoid further such damage. Please check out Robbins’ film.
And, as of Saturday evening, there is good news.
Senator Mike Lee of Utah, the chief proponent for the sale of public lands as part of President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”, has withdrawn his proposal!
Montana Congressman and former Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke led a group of 5 Republican members of the House of Representatives who committed to voting against the bill if it included any sale of public lands. Zinke’s op ed in the Washington Examiner is here (subscription required).
While the Big Beautiful Bill did not threaten our national parks per se, Restore Hetch Hetchy agrees with Rep Zinke – once lands are gone, they are gone forever. They should not be sold.
It’s always nice when folks support restoration of Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park – even if their approach is a bit different from ours. San Francisco, as expected, continues with its own propaganda which ignores its destruction of the iconic landscape.
Edward Ring’s “The Hypocrisy of San Francisco’s Hetch Hetchy Reservoir“, was published June 20th by “American Greatness”. The column is extremely critical of San Francisco – accusing the City of “self-congratulatory, performative environmentalism.”
We agree entirely with Ring when he writes “We can argue, and should, over what role environmentalism should play in the 21st century and how we can best balance the legitimate concerns over sustainability and ecosystem preservation with economic health and human prosperity. But there is one thing we ought to agree on: the water that serves San Francisco today, quenching the thirst of a population with probably the highest percentage of serious and committed environmentalists in the world, is the result of an abomination that broke John Muir’s heart.” We are less certain when he bashes the City’s other environmental commitments.
Jessie Dickson, aka “SacramentoFoodForest”, posted a strident video on Instagram which received more than 72,000 ” likes” and 4000 comments! The video declares that it’s time for San Francisco to find a new water source and describes Hetch Hetchy as “the original public land grab in the United States.”
Sacramentofoodforest describes damming Hetch Hetchy as a crime against Mother Nature.
Dickson/SacramentoFoodForest goes on to say damming Hetch Hetchy was “a crime against Mother Nature”, that it was “a biodiversity hotspot with grasslands old growth forests and a river fed by countless waterfalls” and that it “should have been protected since it’s part of a national park.” The City “needs to remove the O’Shaughnessy Dam and free Yosemite Valleys twin.”, Jessie concludes.
Even if San Francisco continues to resist restoration, it would be nice if it conceded that damming Hetch Hetchy Valley buried a spectacular landscape – something the SF Public Utilities Commission seems to want us to forget
Restore Hetch Hetchy, on the other hand, is always prepared to engage in substantive discussion of the merits of restoration as well as its challenges.
After talking with the SF Chronicle reporter who wrote about the National Park Service’s “unsatisfactory” rating of its concessionaire, Aramark, I drafted the op ed below, addressing a few overall management issues at Yosemite. Newspapers have not shown any interest (after all, there are a few other things in the news these days!), so I thought I would post it as a blog. (The NPS review is posted here.)
Note that this latest problem at Yosemite comes at a time when current budget proposals challenge the National Park Service more then ever – see co-chair Angus King’s press release about his interchange with Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum.
Restore Hetch Hetchy has the utmost respect for the Rangers who are the stewards of our natural resources. They need our support and encouragement. Some of the recommendations below apply to Yosemite overall, not simply Hetch Hetchy where we normally focus our advocacy. But Yosemite is one national park. These recommendations are intended to help the National Park Service provide a better Yosemite.
Yosemite Deserves Better, And So Do We
Yosemite National Park is one of Earth’s best known and most revered natural landscapes. Californians are truly fortunate that it’s in our backyard.
Recent news, however, has highlighted the park’s inability to provide the visitor experience we deserve. As we address these short-term issues, let’s not lose focus on the long-term reform that Yosemite needs.
Aramark, Yosemite’s sole concessionaire which operates all of the park’s lodging, food and shuttles, received an unsatisfactory rating from the National Park Service (Yosemite contractor slammed for hospitality failings, including rodents at Ahwahnee, San Francisco Chronicle, 6/3/25). Rats at the Ahwahnee may have grabbed the headlines, but the list of Aramark’s transgressions includes lack of maintenance and employee misconduct as well as sanitary violations. Park visitors know, however, that concessionaire services, including those provided by Aramark’s predecessors, have been lackluster at best for several decades.
Aramark’s scathing review comes amidst unprecedented threats to Yosemite’s budget. The wholesale termination of seasonal rangers by Elon Musk’s erstwhile “Department of Government Efficiency” earlier this spring was largely rescinded but many have since moved on to more reliable employment. Ongoing deliberations in Congress threaten cutting a billion dollars from our National Parks budget – a third of the total. Dedicated Rangers will be stretched thinner than ever this summer as they struggle to keep campgrounds open and bathrooms clean (oh, the glory and prestige of working for the National Park Service).
The Hetch Hetchy area of Yosemite has been especially neglected. It’s hard to find staffing at the entrance gate. The Hetch Hetchy campground has never been upgraded and is not available to most park visitors. The National Park Service has never allowed boating at Hetch Hetchy, despite the clear intentions of Congress when it allowed the reservoir to be constructed a century ago. Only in 2024 was the dangerous bridge at Wapama Falls replaced – years after multiple hikers had slipped off it to their deaths during the spring snowmelt season. As the National Park Service addresses the visitor experience across Yosemite, they should pay extra attention to the unmet needs at Hetch Hetchy.
And we have an inexcusable leadership vacuum. Nobody currently serves as Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Parks and Wildlife. The Director of the National Park Service and Superintendent of Yosemite are held by people in “acting” (i.e. temporary) roles. Further, Yosemite’s Superintendents typically serve terms too short to implement the real improvements that the park needs. Indeed, the last Superintendent lasted less than 4 years and has not been replaced.
Author Wallace Stegner described our National Parks as “the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst.” Right now, it’s not possible to say they reflect us at our best.
There’s much that can be done to improve Yosemite, and all our national parks, so visitors, from home and abroad, can enjoy them fully. Our parks are for everybody and we need broad support for their viability. This means long-term budgetary commitment and discipline, combined with visitor revenues and philanthropy (thanks, Yosemite Conservancy!).
Moreover, the National Park Service should make its own structural changes. It makes no sense to have a revolving door for superintendents. Let’s find a visionary and committed 40 year-old to lead parks like Yosemite. This would provide them the opportunity to stay 20 years, to develop and implement plans for improvement, and to take responsibility for their outcomes.
And in Yosemite and other large parks, it makes no sense to have a single concessionaire manage all 12 lodges as well as eateries and other visitor services. Once a contract is in place, there is little incentive to make a better hamburger or provide a softer bed. The result is all too often uninspired food, lodging and transportation. Let’s have different entrepreneurs run the Ahwahnee, the Yosemite Lodge and Curry Village, and see who does the best and attracts the most visitors. That’s the American way, after all.
Yosemite’s short-term budget and concessionaire issues warrant immediate attention. But long-term reform is needed if we are going to get the Yosemite we deserve.
Spreck Rosekrans is Executive Director of Restore Hetch Hetchy, an organization committed to returning the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park to its natural splendor ─ while continuing to meet the water and power needs of all communities that depend on the Tuolumne River.
Our Spring 2025 Newsletter has been delivered to mailboxes is also posted online here.
If you would like a printed copy but have not received one, please send your name and address to admin@hetchhetchy.org.
The Newsletter includes:
Improvements to Access We are continuing to pursue improvements to the visitor experience at Hetch Hetchy – even while the dam is in place. San Francisco made substantial promises and Congress expected that park visitors would be able to camp, fish and explore the canyon by boat. We hope cooperative discussions with the National Park Service and Department of the Interior will produce results. We believe, however, that the current regulations violate the Raker Act (the 1913 legislation that allowed the valley to be dammed) and are considering asking the federal court for relief.
When park visitors are able to fully appreciate Hetch Hetchy and learns its history, most will support returning the valley to its natural splendor.
Ackerson Meadow The restoration at Ackerson, not far from Hetch Hetchy, is inspiring. See the Newsletter, or better yet, check it out in person.
Robel Fessehatzion Art We are excited to share Robel’s “A Tale of Two Valleys” image, which elicits the horrific sensation we would get if Yosemite Valley were to be dammed and flooded.
Robel is a talented, passionate and articulate artist. It’s great to have Robel’s voice on our side. (He’s planning on going back to Hetch Hetchy soon.)
Check out Robel’s website to see more of his outstanding work. Think about where one of his pieces might hang in your home.
Robel Fessehatzion is a self-taught African-American photographer and a member of the African diaspora (Ethiopia) based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Influenced by his upbringing near the foothills of the northern Sierra, his work focuses on the natural environment & identity.
