Hooray! San Francisco is now soliciting contractors to provide potable water to the campground at Hetch Hetchy. Construction is scheduled for August 2027.
Potable water was a requirement when Congress passed the Raker Act in 1913. Somehow both San Francisco and the National Park Service managed to ignore this requirement for 110 years – until Restore Hetch Hetchy reminded them in 2023. For more background, see “progress-good-and-sufficient-supply-of-water-for-camp-purposes-at-last”– posted a year ago.
One image from San Francisco’s extensive files for prospective contractors. Click photo to enlarge.
When the project is completed, we have asked the National Park Service to allow all visitors to stay at the campground – not merely those leaving for or returning from a backpacking trip. NPS has not made any such commitment. (Note San Francisco intends to install fiberoptic cable as well, which NPS has said will improve security.)
San Francisco’s elite guests are permitted to stay at its Chalet overlooking the reservoir and adjacent cabins. While these structure are intended for activities “necessary or properly incident to the construction, operation, and maintenance of said water-power and electric plants: (Raker Act Section 1), most use is clearly recreational for the City’s guests.
Governor Newsom visited Hetch Hetchy earlier this summer and we are told they stayed at the Chalet.
Restore Hetch Hetchy’s fundamental campaign is to restore the valley while making water system improvements so that no one loses a drop of supply. It is also essential, however, that visitors are welcomed at Hetch Hetchy. Providing potable water to the campground is an important part of improving the visitor experience and something to celebrate.