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Lee of Utah, the chief proponent for the sale of public lands as part of President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill”, has withdrawn his proposal!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.
The House of Representatives passed President Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” on Thursday by a single vote. It heads to the Senate where some say there will be a “Big, Beautiful Rewrite”. The bill has enormous implications for government spending and revenue that will affect all Americans.
Commentary herein will stick to Restore Hetch Hetchy’s extended wheelhouse – land and water in the west.
An earlier version of the bill had included a provision to sell 500,000 acres of federal land in Nevada and Utah. Thanks to bipartisan opposition, led by Congressmembers Zinke (MT) and Vasquez (NM), this provision has been eliminated.
Nevada’s Rep. Amodei wanted to sells lands within Nevada. Nevada’s other three Representatives joined the Public Lands Caucus in opposition.
The “Big, Beautiful Bill” also includes $2,000,000,000 to enlarge Shasta Dam & Reservoir and $500,000,000 to help fund tunnels to move water from north to south around the Delta in California. These projects are deeply controversial for both environmental and economic reasons.
There is substantial opposition to enlarging Shasta Dam. The extended reservoir would flood lands belonging to the Winnemem Wintu tribe as well as a stretch of the McCloud River that is well known for trout fishing and which is presently protected by the California Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.
The Delta Tunnels project is the latest incarnation of the longstanding proposal to convey water around California’s Delta as it travels from the wetter north to farmlands and cities in the south. Moving water around, rather than through, the Delta was originally proposed in the 1940s and was defeated as the Peripheral Canal on California’s ballot in 1982. But the idea has not gone away.
Proponents allege that the Delta, with its below-sea-level islands fortified by levees, is vulnerable to sea level rise and catastrophic failure which would put much to the State’s water supply at risk. Governor Newsom agrees and is trying to fast track permitting.
Opponents refute the claims of imminent failure and assert the levees should be strengthened. Moving water through the Tunnels would dewater the Delta and destroy the largest estuary on the west coast of the Americas.
A 1982 Los Angeles Times editorial cartoon mocks San Francisco’s opposition to the Peripheral Canal. (Restore Hetch Hetchy has no problem with San Francisco’s pipeline – only that it uses Yosemite as a storage tank.)
Beyond the dispute pitting environmental impacts against water supply benefits inherent in these two projects, there is a fundamental economic principle at stake – “user pays”. As they teach in Econ 101, when the price for something is artificially depressed, its demand increases.
Naturally, Central Valley Project farmers, the principal beneficiaries of enlarging Shasta, would like more water – especially if they don’t have to pay for it. Farms in California’s San Joaquin Valley are some of the most productive in the world. Subsidizing infrastructure to store and deliver water, however, skews decision-making away from protecting fisheries and other environmental resources. (The original construction of the Central Valley Project, including Shasta, Trinity, Folsom and New Melones Reservoirs as well as the Delta Mendota Canal, was subsidized – irrigation districts were awarded interest loans with zero interestthat have yet to be repaid.)
Paying for the Delta Tunnels is likely to be a different story. $500,000,000 is only 2.5% of the total estimated cost of $20,000,000,000. Most of that total cost would be borne by people living in southern California. Environmental considerations aside, could/should they invest funds in other projects instead, even if they believe catastrophic Delta failure may well occur?
San Francisco did not receive any substantial federal or state funds for construction of Hetch Hetchy, Cherry & Eleanor Reservoirs or for its pipelines and tunnels conveying water to the Bay Area. The City did, however, receive a massive subsidy – the Raker Act allows it to “rent” Hetch Hetchy Valley for only $30,000 per year!That subsidy has worked out pretty well for the City. We don’t like to put a price tag on Yosemite, but if San Francisco had had to pay anything close to market price, it would likely have decided to go elsewhere for water or perhaps would have built all of its dams in the Tuolumne watershed outside of Yosemite National Park.
Put another way, Yosemite’s Hetch Hetchy Valley would never have been dammed and flooded if Congress had stuck to basic economic principles.
Federal lands across the United States, colored by managing agency – click map to enlarge.
The damming and flooding of Hetch Hetchy in Yosemite National Park looms large in American history as arguably the most infamous loss of public land ever. Returning that spectacular landscape to its natural splendor will not only undo a historic injustice, it will inspire a new generation to cherish, protect and restore public lands everywhere.
Hetch Hetchy, as a glacier carved valley with waterfalls cascading from granite monoliths onto a meadowy valley floor, is special indeed. It is not, however, large. At 1400 acres, it is only about 2/10 of 1 percent of Yosemite (though the reservoir effectively reduces access to the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne.)
Moreover, national parks cover some 85,000,000 acres. Together with lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service and other agencies, federal lands comprise more than 588 million acres – or about 1/4 of all land in the United States.
These public lands are important to all of us. As citizens we own them. No one is making any more. Any decision to sell public lands should be considered with the utmost care and deliberation.
As Secretary of Interior in 2018, now Congressman Zinke (center) visited Hetch Hetchy with, from left, RHH board member Mark Palley, Executive Director Spreck Rosekrans, and board members Mark Cederborg and Virginia Johannessen. (Sadly Hetch Hetchy was largely obscured by smoke that day.)
Fortunately, a bipartisan group of Congress members, led by Ryan Zinke (R-Montana) and Gabe Vasquez (D-New Mexico) has launched Public Lands Caucus, a bipartisan congressional coalition focused on conserving America’s public lands and expanding access for all Americans. As Rep. Zinke notes, “Public lands aren’t red or blue issues, it’s red, white and blue. The bipartisan Public Lands Caucus brings together lawmakers who don’t agree on much, but we agree on and are ready to work together to promote policies that advance conservation and public access … so future generations can enjoy the same opportunities to hunt, hike, fish, make a living and enjoy our uniquely American heritage.”
It’s refreshing to see any bipartisan cooperation these days. As an organization deeply connected and committed to improving America’s natural heritage, Restore Hetch Hetchy applauds this effort.
