Beginning a new chapter in one of America’s oldest conservation battles, environmental groups Monday are expected to turn in enough signatures to qualify a November ballot measure in San Francisco that would require the city to draw up a plan to drain Hetch Hetchy Reservoir.
The reservoir in Yosemite National Park and the Tuolumne River that flows into it are the main water source for 2.5 million Bay Area residents who live in San Francisco or on the Peninsula, as well as in parts of San Jose and Alameda County.
The group Restore Hetch Hetchy, three former Yosemite superintendents and other supporters say voters should have a chance to bring Hetch Hetchy Valley — a scenic area on par with Yosemite Valley that was submerged 90 years ago — back to life. If their measure passes in November, they plan to place another measure on the 2016 San Francisco ballot to mandate draining the reservoir and developing new water sources by 2035.
“The Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park is an American gem,” said Mike Marshall, executive director of Restore Hetch Hetchy. “It is one of the most extraordinary ecosystems in the world. Yosemite is one of the crown jewels of our park system, and it deserves to be whole.”
Marshall said his group will turn in more than 16,000 signatures Monday from registered San Francisco voters. The measure needs 9,702 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.
Critics of the proposed measure– including Silicon Valley leaders, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer — say the region can’t afford to drain the reservoir or replace its pristine water.
“We have to stop this one,” said Carl Guardino, president of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. “Hetch Hetchy is a critical water source not only for San Francisco, but throughout Silicon Valley. It is critical to our economy. We care deeply about this.”
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee was more blunt.
“Their initiative is insane and attempts to fool voters into wasting millions to restudy local water sustainability projects that are already being implemented in San Francisco,” he said.
The measure carries with it significant history and emotional symbolism.
Just before his death, Sierra Club founder John Muir lost the battle to save Hetch Hetchy Valley in 1913 when Congress approved construction of O’Shaughnessy Dam, heeding the pleas of San Francisco leaders, who argued that they needed a more reliable water supply after much of the city’s downtown burned down in the 1906 earthquake.
Hetch Hetchy is named after a Miwok Indian word that refers to a type of grass growing in the Sierra Nevada. Similar to Yosemite Valley, which draws 4 million tourists a year, it is framed by granite walls, waterfalls and pine forests. It once had rich wildlife and the Tuolumne River meandering through its meadows.
Muir called the valley “one of nature’s rarest and most precious mountain temples.”
The dam was finished in 1923 and the valley submerged. Today, the water — a snow melt so pure it doesn’t have to be filtered — flows 160 miles to the Bay Area. The project’s most prominent local feature is Crystal Springs Reservoir off Interstate 280 in San Mateo County.
In addition to San Francisco, Hetch Hetchy serves 28 other cities and water districts, including Palo Alto, Los Altos Hills, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale and Mountain View.
San Jose receives only 3 percent of its water from Hetch Hetchy. The city depends mostly on groundwater and imports from San Francisco Bay’s Delta.
In 2006, the state Department of Water Resources issued a study that said it was feasible to drain Hetch Hetchy, but it would cost between $3 billion and $10 billion.
The study noted that if the reservoir, which holds 360,000 acre feet of water — enough for 1.8 million people a year — were drained, new water storage would have to be found. That could include everything from new groundwater storage to expanding reservoirs such as Don Pedro in Tuolumne County.
The Hetch Hetchy project produces about 300 megawatts of hydroelectric power — and under the measure any reduction would have to be replaced, something supporters of the San Francisco ballot measure say can be done with renewable energy projects.
Marshall said San Francisco can make up much of the water simply by copying programs that San Jose, Los Angeles and other cities have put in place, including using more recycled water, groundwater recharge and conservation.
Harlan Kelly, assistant general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which owns the reservoir, said the agency already is planning some of those projects.
Critics also argue that residents who live outside San Francisco in San Mateo, Santa Clara and Alameda counties should be able to vote on the future of Hetch Hetchy. That argument could well end up as a bill in Sacramento or Washington, D.C.
Art Jensen, CEO of the Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency, which represents the cities besides San Francisco that receive Hetch Hetchy water, said: “This debate has been around for 100 years. A decision of this significance should be put not just to the voters of San Francisco, but to all of the customers of the system.”
Paul Rogers covers resources and environmental issues. Contact him at 408-920-5045. Follow him at Twitter.com/paulrogerssjmn.
What the measure would do
