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 …show more content…
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
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 …show more content…
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