by Spreck | Nov 28, 2020 | Uncategorized
The Property and Environmental Research Center, located in Bozeman Montana, has published a policy paper based on San Francisco’s $30,000 per year “rent” for Hetch Hetchy (and comparing it to Yosemite’s $646 million backlog of overdue maintenance projects). PERC opines that San Francisco’s $30,000 rent “may be the worst contract in the history of the National Park Service.”
Before we go any further, let’s note that San Francisco pays Yosemite some $7,000,000 per year, principally as reimbursement for security and watershed protections costs – as mandated by the Raker Act.
PERC provides a few models to guide what San Francisco might fairly pay, including a “Concessions” model that would warrant $38 million per year and a “Special Use Permit Model” that would bring in $65 million per year. The report is short and worth a quick read.
We are also thankful that PERC cites the potential value of a restored valley ($1.7 – $4.5 billion) in recreational use which ECONorthwest projected in its 2019 report, Valuing Hetch Hetchy Valley.
While Restore Hetch Hetchy is focused on returning the Valley to its natural splendor rather than charging more to use it as a reservoir, we agree that the agreement is the worst ever in the history of the National Park Service. San Francisco continues to reap substantial economic benefits at the expense of the broader public interest. Change is needed.
If San Francisco were to pay a fair rent for its use of Hetch Hetchy Valley, perhaps the City would not be so resistant to restoration.
PERC is off base, however. when it asserts restoration “would force the Bay Area to reassess its entire water supply.” The misconception is disappointingly common among those who have not looked closely at the components of San Francisco’s water system.
A few reminders:
- San Francisco’s water system is one of six major water systems serving the Bay Area. Most Bay Are residents do not depend on it at all;
- Hetch Hetchy Reservoir accounts for less that 25% of San Francisco’s storage; and
- Restoration will not affect San Francisco’s water rights on the Tuolumne River.
While San Francisco should be paying more for use of the Valley, we are dedicated to returning Hetch Hetchy to its original splendor while providing access to park visitors. So, to date, we have not advocated raising the rent.
Restore Hetch Hetchy fully agrees with the Property and Environmental Research Center that “it is time to modernize the century-old arrangement between Yosemite and San Francisco.”
by Spreck | Nov 25, 2020 | Uncategorized
Check out our Fall 2020 Newsletter. Features include:
Your vision of restoration. How would you like to see Hetch Hetchy Valley when it is restored? How would you like the National Park Service to manage the valley? Provide us with your vision of restoration, if you have not already done so. We will be publishing a summary of responses in 2021.
The Hetch Hetchy Loop Road – mandated by law but never built. We aren’t advocating to build this road, but the National Park Service needs to take steps to encourage, rather than discourage, park visitors from going to Hetch Hetchy.
Water system elements necessary to keep San Francisco whole when Hetch Hetchy is restored. More to come on this important subject.
Obi Kaufmann’s Hetch Hetchy note cards. They are beautiful. Let us know if you’d like a box.
People working with Restore Hetch Hetchy:
- Libby McLaren, the most recent musician to record “Hooray For Hetch Hetchy” – check out her video!);
- Lesley Goren, who designed our fabulous new letterhead;
- Richard Sykes, a retired water system engineer;
- Jenner Fox, who recorded “Hooray For Hetch Hetchy” in the Oregon woods near his home;
- Julene Freitas, our Office Manager;
- Daniel McKenzie (above), who designed and built our new website; and
- Ron Rick, the graphic artist who creates our newsletter and other materials.
by Spreck | Nov 13, 2020 | Uncategorized
Forbes’ has challenged San Francisco’s ban on using natural gas in new construction – opining that it is only possible due to the hydropower generated by the Hetch Hetchy water system.
Senior Contributor Ellen R. Wald describes Hetch Hetchy as “one of the most beautiful spots in the American west, a veritable Garden of Eden” and explains that “the city continues to live and prosper off of one of the most egregious violations of the planet in history.” She is right, of course.
Wald is only partly right, however, in asserting that the dam at Hetch Hetchy makes San Francisco’s ban on natural gas possible.
It is annoying, indeed, when San Francisco touts its hydropower as “clean”, and “emissions free” without acknowledging the destruction of Hetch Hetchy. Do City leaders think it is ok to destroy national parks, in general, or do they think only San Francisco is so entitled?
Should we also dam the Grand Canyon or install a steam turbine atop Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park?
The real story in electricity production in California is compliance with the Renewable Portfolio Standard, which requires 60% renewable production by 2030, and 100% clean energy by 2045. Solar production alone has almost tripled over the last 5 years. Production in 2019 was 28,513 gWh, or about 17 times the total hydropower produced by San Francisco.
Hydropower production does not change unless a new dam is built or an old one removed. And no one is expecting changes in hydropower production, one way or another, to play a large role in the energy picture.
If a San Francisco resident signs up for Clean Power SF, no new hydropower is magically produced. Those dollars instead are dedicated to investments in solar, wind or other renewable power sources
Side notes:
- Under California law, most hydropower, including San Francisco’s, is not considered “renewable”. All together, the City produces about 1,700 gWh per year, a little more than 1/2 of 1% of statewide production, at its three plants in the Tuolumne watershed.
- Only about 20% of San Francisco’s hydropower will be lost when Hetch Hetchy Valley is restored – mostly at the Kirkwood Plant. The Holm and Moccasin Plants will be largely unaffected.
- If you prefer a gas range to a traditional electric stove, try an electric induction stove as an alternative to both. It’s a very different experience and you may love it.
by Spreck | Oct 24, 2020 | Uncategorized
We are so excited to present Libby McLaren’s extraordinary rendition of “Hooray for Hetch Hetchy”.
For those unfamiliar, Libby is a wonderfully talented singer and pianist. She grew up in a musical household and has performed across the country for the past 45 years. Libby is also a proud graduate of John Muir Elementary in Berkeley – class of ’67.
What a great voice! Enjoy.
For more about Libby and her partner Robin Flower, see http://www.flowerandmclaren.com/. Restore Hetch Hetchy is also grateful to Michael Sexton for his excellent videography (sextonarts.com).
Also, Restore Hetch Hetchy wants to know what you would like to see when Hetch Hetchy is restored. Fill out our restoration survey or send an email to spreck@hetchhetchy.org.
Restoration Survey
by Spreck | Oct 19, 2020 | Uncategorized
Restore Hetch Hetchy is pleased to present a new and improved website with a modern ‘responsive’ design so it plays nice with all of your difference devices. We hope you will like it.
The new site will retain the information provided on the old site, with the exception of some of our several hundred blog posts. Let us know if there’s something missing that you’d like to see. You’ll also notice that blog posts will have a slightly different look as they are linked to the website. Special thanks to Daniel McKenzie for his excellent work on our new website.
The new site will include feature video features as well as opportunities for supporters to engage. We are starting by asking for feedback on what restoration should look like. In 2021, we will be asking supporters to help us engage in the political arena.
How you would like to see the valley restored?
- Should there be roads or only trails?
- Where should camping and lodging be allowed? In the restored valley? In adjacent areas?
- What do we do with the O’Shaughnessy Dam?
- And should San Francisco be compensated, to make restoration more palatable, or has the city already received plenty of benefit over the past century?
Let us know what you think »
Restore Hetch Hetchy will be active in coming months. We have two reports in the works. One, tentatively titled “The Second Taking of Hetch Hetchy”, is about how San Francisco and the National Park Service have limited public access to Hetch Hetchy – directly contravening promises made to and expected by Congress when it gave San Francisco permission to dam and flood the valley. The second will be an update on water system improvements available to San Francisco as a result of improved technology and California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, passed in 2014.
We will be reaching out to both elected officials (after the election) and to the general public. We will be making directed efforts to find young people, who may not know the story of Hetch Hetchy but don’t believe we need to live with mistakes of the past.
We are asking all supporters to tell their friends and family about the opportunity at hand. Together we can restore Hetch Hetchy Valley, make Yosemite whole again and do something very special for our children and grandchildren. It’s an opportunity like none other.
Please help spread the word.
by danielcmckenzie | Aug 8, 2020 | Uncategorized
James A. Garfield of Ohio was elected to Congress in 1862. In his first term he voted on the unprecedented 1864 Yosemite Grant, later signed by President Lincoln, to cede Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove to California “upon the express conditions that the premises shall be held for public use, resort and recreation.”
In 1871, with the Republican Party in control of both houses of Congress as well as the Presidency, Garfield was named head of the Appropriations Committee. (For those who may not know, the Appropriations Committee controls where the money goes.) James Garfield was one of the most powerful men in Washington.
That all changed during the midterm elections of 1874. In the biggest ever “flip” of the House, the Republicans lost 96 of their 203 seats. Garfield suddenly went from being one of the most powerful men in Washington to being just one of 293 Congressmen.
So what did James Garfield do? He went to Yosemite!
Garfield hopped aboard the transcontinental railroad, completed only six years earlier, and traveled to California. He then took another train to Merced, a stagecoach to Mariposa and finally traveled by horseback to what is now Yosemite National Park.
James A. Garfield was impressed by what he saw, but felt he was unable to put it all in words:
“(Yosemite) is one of the few things I have ever examined which has not been over praised. All description fails adequately to exhibit its greatness.”
Upon visiting the Mariposa Grove, Garfield wrote:
“To look upon a tree that antedates the Christian Era; that was in lusty vigor when Rome was founded; that is older than the Iliad, is a thing not to be passed over lightly. I came down from the mountain feeling as thought I had communed with the monarchs of the classic days.”
Garfield’s view of Yosemite Valley came as a snow flurry subsided. He wrote:
“After a sharp shower of ten minutes the sun burst forth in full splendor disclosing the wonderful beauty of Bridal Veil Fall and the grand doorway to the Yosemite formed by the El Capitan on the left and the Cathedral Rocks on the right.”
In a letter to his family Garfield wrote:
“Tell Mamma that in my late letters I have spelled it as two words, but I was wrong. It is only one word, Yosemite, and is pronounced Yo-sem-i-te, four syllables, accented on the second.
James A. Garfield traveled to Yosemite in 1875, five years before he was elected president of the United States. Many Presidents have visited Yosemite while in office, including Rutherford Hayes, Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy and Barack Obama.
No Presidents have visited Yosemite’s Hetch Hetchy Valley, but several Secretaries of the Interior have, including Richard Ballinger (Taft), Donald Hodel (Reagan) and Ryan Zinke (Reagan). Secretaries James R. Garfield (Roosevelt, and son of President James A. Garfield) and Franklin Lane (Wilson, and former City Attorney for San Francisco), both of whom played key roles in damming Hetch Hetchy, never visited Hetch Hetchy.
Yosemite, including Hetch Hetchy, is rich in American History. Restore Hetch Hetchy is committed to writing the next chapter.
Much of the information above was derived from material posted on the internet by Ephriam Dickson, who researched Garfield’s trip via the Library of Congress. Our thanks to Mr. Dickson.
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