From left to right, Cherry, Eleanor and Hetch Hetchy – San Francisco’s three “upcountry” reservoirs. The City also stores water in Don Pedro, downstream on the Tuolumne River, and five reservoirs in the Bay Area. Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is a significant, but wholly replaceable, piece of the system.
Sunday’s editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle strongly urged Dennis Herrera, the newly elected General Manager of the City’s Public Utilities Commission, to invest in alternative supplies and lessen the harm to habitats and wildlife caused by its diversions. It’s a positive thing that the Chronicle understands that San Francisco, like all cities and farms, cause harm when water is diverted from the natural world.
For those without a subscription, the editorial includes the following vignettes:
- “Conservation won’t be enough. We still need to diversify our water portfolio.”
- “There are rivers upon rivers of untapped, drought-resistant fresh water waiting to be captured — our treated sewage outflows.”
- “Orange County has the sewage recycling capability to meet the water needs of 1 million residents. There is a not a single environmental sustainability metric in which San Francisco should be trailing Orange County.”
- “Herrera has signaled that he’s up to the challenge. San Francisco residents need him to mean it.”
Unfortunately, however, the Chronicle continues its myopia when it comes to Hetch Hetchy. The City’s favorite reservoir is included in the editorial but not associated with the harm the water system has caused. The Chronicle thus continues its long history of supporting aquatic restoration just about everywhere throughout California with the exception of Yosemite – for a few decades of examples of this double standard, see here).
At Restore Hetch Hetchy, we understand the inclination of some San Francisco leaders to hold on to the special (and unprecedented) deal it made with Congress in 1913. It’s time for a paradigm shift. As a whole, San Franciscans need to recognize and undo the harm they have done to Yosemite.
Here’s our letter to the Chronicle – we hope they will print it:
Dear Editor:
San Francisco, like most of California’s cities and farms, do indeed cause harm to habitat and wildlife by diverting water from Sierra rivers. The Chronicle is right that the time to diversify the City’s portfolio with sustainable alternatives, such as recycling, in now.
San Francisco, however, stands alone as the only city in the United States to have inflicted such harm in a national park – something it did a century ago when it clear-cut, dammed and flooded Yosemite’s Hetch Hetchy Valley. Government agencies, universities and environmental groups have all shown that investments in recycling or groundwater storage would keep water supplies whole while allowing Hetch Hetchy to be returned to a natural and wild state. The time to reclaim all of Yosemite is now as well.
Spreck Rosekrans, Executive Director, Restore Hetch Hetchy