by Spreck | Dec 23, 2020 | Uncategorized
Friends,
I hope you are well and are able to celebrate the holidays, even though most of our traditional gatherings have been restricted or eliminated due to the Covid-19 pandemic. There are better times ahead.
We are all looking forward to 2021. There’s still time, however, to make a tax-deductible donation in 2020 so that we can continue our campaign to undo the greatest damage ever suffered in America’s national parks.
Making Yosemite whole again will inspire a new generation of conservationists. We must convince San Francisco, using either a carrot or a stick (or a bit of both), to make water system improvements as many California water agencies have been doing for more than 25 years.
We are looking forward to working with the new Congress, the new Administration in Washington DC and officials in San Francisco. We will be pressing forward on all fronts, including:
- promoting water system alternatives that employ technological innovation and California’s new groundwater law,
- showing how the National Park Service has allowed San Francisco to deny public access in the Hetch Hetchy Canyon,
- demanding a change to the insignificant $30,000 in annual rent that San Francisco pays for the right to store water in Yosemite National Park, and
- expounding the tremendous unparalleled opportunity to return Hetch Hetchy to its natural splendor.
Contributions can be made by credit card online. If you prefer to send a check, contribute appreciated stock or contribute in some other way, please see our “other ways to give page“.
Happy holidays,
Spreck Rosekrans, Executive Director
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.
