Hetch Toughnessy Dam Case Study

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What type of effect will the removal of the O’Shaughnessy Dam in the Hetch Hetchy Valley of Yosemite National Park have on the environment?

The Raker Bill, which eventually became known as the “Raker Act”, authorized the city of San Francisco the right to build a dam in the Hetch Hetchy Valley as a reservoir. It took about ten years to build the O’Shaughnessy Dam and it was completed in 1923. According to the Hetch Hetchy Restoration Study, the dam supplies water for 2.4 million people and approximately 85% of San Francisco’s water. 6

While we are currently in a drought, water is becoming more scarce, but water demand is increasing in the United States. As a matter-of-fact, demographers expect California alone to add 400,000 new residents per year—increasing its population from 36 million to 51 million by 2040.1 Global warming is already causing rivers, lakes and reservoirs to evaporate faster than normal. Even a mountain’s snow pack, which acts as a giant storage of frozen water, is being reduced in the amount of water it holds by global warming. So there is already a need to find alternate storage for water; especially in California.

This brings up important questions such as, “What impacts on our environment will take place if we remove the O’Shaughnessy Dam?” and “Is there a location further down that can be used to store drinking water?” In the court filing by Restore Hetch Hetchy, a nonprofit, public benefit coorporation, Petitioner and Plaintiff vs.
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City and County of San Francisco,... Respondents and Defendents5, paragraph 2 states, “Respondents have eliminated or seriously impaired the beneficial uses of the Tuolumne River as the river flows through the Hetch Hetchy Valley. Respondents’ method of diverting the Tuolumne River’s waters eliminates important aesthetic, scenic, fish & wildlife habitat, fishing, recreational, and preservational beneficial uses in furtherance of water supply storage for remote cities and replaceable electric power production.” In the Hetch Hetchy Restoration Study report presented by the state of California in 2006, it is noted that past feasibility studies have largely ignored environmental impacts of removing the dam.6 So how do we really know how dam removal will effect the Tuolumne Wild & Scenic River, its surroundings, including wildlife? The topic can feel like an easy fix, especially for those who have an understanding of the watershed system. Gil and Barbara Farkas agree, “Increased water storage would be available by raising the Calaveras Reservoir in the Bay Area and they could maintain O’Shaughnessy Dam above Hetch Hetchy for storage as well.” The topic can also be a bit more complicated, even for those performing the studies. Even though more than 500 dams have been removed in the United States, very little information is still known about the ramifications of dam removals.7 This is because studies need to be done to determine the effects of the removal on the nearby geology and ecosystems of the O’Shaughnessy Dam. When looking at geological repercussions, studies to evaluate water supply, drought preparedness, water quality, operational flexibility, flood impacts, environmental and energy issues no doubt, must be completed, but these studies have not been done. Actually most studies have only been performed on small dam structures in other locations7 which do not allow us to see the positives and/or negatives of a dam removal on a larger scale. It is also difficult to gauge changes to an ecosystem, and its local geology, based on the studies of another dam’s removal. Take for instance, the Elwha River Basin geomorphology in Olympic National Park is made up of a series of canyons and floodplains, whereas the Tuolumne River is a series of ruggedly carved canyons. While the two rivers have their own unique topographies, scientists are utilizing studies of the Elwha River Basin dam and the Glines Dam removals in Olympic National Park to better comprehend dam removal in other National Parks; the main one being O’Shaughnessy Dam in Yosemite National Park. This is because the watersheds share similar characteristics and have been largely undisturbed at higher elevations. Unfortunately because the O’Shaughnessy Dam is so much larger than the other two dams, studies are still not what would be considered an “apples to apples” comparison. The dam removal topic has certainly become controversial, mainly because on one side there is

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