Tag: Tuolumne River

The Continuing Battle Over Hetch Hetchy

The Restore Hetch Hetchy organization is still battling San Francisco over the future of Hetch Hetchy Valley. Last year they filed a suit against San Francisco for violating the Constitution of California in their management of the water resource. There was a hearing at the end of January on the subject. In my view this is an interesting contest because it isn’t really “good” vs “evil” – there are no “good guys” and “bad guys.” It is simply a difference of opinion.


Hetch Hetchy – Unsung Hero of the National Park Service…

Hetch Hetchy Reservoir July, 2014. At the highest level I’ve ever seen.

We already discussed that Hetch Hetchy reservoir was created to service the needs of San Francisco and outlining areas. Also shown was that it was not without good cause. But how did that happen? How could a municipality gain water rights, let alone damming, a river in a National Park? It may seem to be too late to do anything about it now, but is it?