When Congress passed the Raker Act in 1913, allowing a dam to be built in Hetch Hetchy Valley, it expected the area to be managed for water supply purposes and for park purposes.

Public access and recreational opportunities at Hetch Hetchy, however, are far more limited than what San Francisco promised and Congress expected. Details of this history are provided in Restore Hetch Hetchy’s 2021 report, Keeping Promises: Providing Public Access to Hetch Hetchy Valley, Yosemite National Park.

Since the release of Keeping Promises, Restore Hetch Hetchy has met with National Park Service on several occasions to discuss how to improve the visitor experience at Hetch Hetchy. These discussions have been cooperative and collegial, but only partially productive. We have concluded that it is essential to focus on the limitations to access and recreation at Hetch Hetchy from a legal perspective.

Accordingly, on September 26, 2023, we sent a “Petition to Improve Public Access to the Hetch Hetchy Area of Yosemite National Park” to officials in the National Park Service and at the Department of Interior.

By filing this petition, we are serving notice to the National Park Service and the Department of Interior that they are out of compliance with the law. We hope to be able to work cooperatively with both the NPS and DOI to make the improvements that we recommend and are warranted under by the letter and spirit of the Raker Act as well as 21st century policies for managing our national parks.

The improvements we recommend would allow park visitors to truly appreciate the Hetch Hetchy area – to savor sunset and sunrise, to stay overnight and to explore the canyon. Families, hikers, birdwatchers, rock climbers and fishermen would all benefit. Improving the visitor experience would also allow more people to experience the magnificent Hetch Hetchy canyon, teach them its history and encourage them to support the valley’s restoration.

Restore Hetch Hetchy’s ultimate vision remains the same: to return to the people Yosemite Valley’s lost twin, Hetch Hetchy – a majestic glacier-carved valley with towering cliffs and waterfalls, an untamed place where river and wildlife run free, a new kind of national park.

We have posted two versions of the petition – the main document (14 pages) as well as a longer version with the supporting exhibits (145 pages).  The exhibits are also briefly described and posted separately below:

The Raker Act (1913)

The Raker Act, named for Congressman John Raker of Manteca, is the legislation that allowed San Francisco to build a dam in Hetch Hetchy Valley. The Act: includes specific but expressly limited restrictions on what park visitors can do in the area; requires San Francisco to build certain roads and trails; requires San Francisco to provide water to the campground at Hetch Hetchy; and allows San Francisco to use buildings that are necessary for operations of the dam and reservoir.

Restore Hetch Hetchy alleges the National Park Service is not properly administering these provisions of the Raker Act.

The Superintendent’s Compendium (August 18, 2022)

The Superintendent’s Compendium summarizes the Superintendent’s discretionary authority pertaining to the use of Yosemite National Park. Restore Hetch Hetchy alleges the National Park Service is violating the Raker Act in its support of San Francisco’s filtration as rationale to restrict boating on Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. Restore Hetch Hetchy further alleges that the limited hours of access at Hetch Hetchy and limited camping (backpackers only) are the result of unwarranted deference to San Francisco at the expense of park visitors.

Memorandum of Agreement between San Francisco and Yosemite National Park (2019)

The agreement between San Francisco and the National Park Service pertaining primarily to use of Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, including reimbursements from San Francisco for security and watershed protection. This document repeats the National Park Service commitment to maintaining San Francisco’s filtration exemption – a commitment expressly forbidden by the Raker Act.

Keeping Promises: Providing Public Access to Hetch Hetchy Valley, Yosemite National Park, Restore Hetch Hetchy (2021)

Report published by Restore Hetch Hetchy explaining how the Raker Act’s language and legislative history support far greater access and recreational opportunity than is currently available. The report recommends expanded access hours, camping, trails, boating and public transportation. Discussions with National Park Service staff have been productive with respect to some of these recommendations. Restore Hetch Hetchy’s petition focuses primarily on the legal rationale for increased access.

Legal Analysis of Raker Act, Section 9(a)(5) and the Park Service’s Lack of Authority to Restrict Boating on the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir”, Lozeau-Drury, (2022)

Attorney Michael Lozeau’s legal research definitively explains how the Superintendent’s restriction on boating on Hetch Hetchy Reservoir violates the Raker Act. The Raker Act does include provisions to protect water quality in Hetch Hetchy Reservoir but these provisions are expressly limited and do not extend to boating. In addition, Lozeau’s research illustrates that the National Park Service’s MOA with San Francisco also contravenes the Raker Act and asks the National Park Service to eliminate all restrictions at Hetch Hetchy that are not legally justified.

O’Shaughnessy Reservations, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, (downloaded Feb 2, 2023)

San Francisco’s criteria for allowing guests to stay at cabins at Hetch Hetchy appears to be based on privilege. The Raker Act, on the other hand, stipulates that any buildings must be “properly incident” to the construction and operation of water and power facilities and does not provide for the social use that routinely takes place.

East Bay Municipal Utilities District Pardee Reservoir Recreation Files

The East Bay Municipal Utilities District, which serves Oakland, Berkeley and other cities with high quality water, provides significant recreation opportunities at its principal storage reservoir. There is no reason why similar opportunities cannot be provided at Hetch Hetchy.

SFPUC Brochure

San Francisco Public Utilities Commission brochure distributed at the entrance gate by the National Park Service.

A vision of a restored Hetch Hetchy Valley.