Melting snow on the north rim at Hetch Hetchy can create a dozen simultaneous waterfalls – a site to behold.
After two very dry years, it’s especially nice to enter 2022 with one of the wettest autumns ever.
How wet has it really been? It’s too soon to be definitive about how much snow has fallen as the State of California has not yet completed its first snow survey – an operation that requires measuring both the depth and density of snow at standardized locations.
Rainfall, however, is easier to measure. Throughout the Central Valley we have already surpassed last year’s total and, in the north, we are on pace for the wettest year in more than a century. California’s Data Exchange Center shows cumulative rainfall totals on a daily basis for the Northern Sierra, San Joaquin and Tulare Basin, and compares them to values in prior years.
From a scientific perspective, our case for restoring Hetch Hetchy is not affected by drought. After all, we are advocating that San Francisco invest in system improvements that would fully replace, at a minimum, the water supply function of Hetch Hetchy Reservoir (storing Tuolumne River supplies in groundwater basins in Stanislaus County or an enlarged Calaveras Reservoir in Alameda County, or recycling wastewater in the Bay Area, are all viable options).
Adequate water supply is such an emotional issue, however, that it is much easier to talk to people, especially elected officials, when drought is not on the front page. So we are happy about the wet weather – both because we need the rain AND because it makes it easier to advocate for restoration.
We are grateful to all our supporters and thank all who have already made year-end contributions. If you haven’t contributed in 2021 but would like to, send a check (dated today) to Restore Hetch Hetchy, 3286 Adeline St. Suite 7, Berkeley, California 94703, or contribute online.