University of the Pacific Scholarly Commons John Muir: A Reading Bibliography by Kimes John Muir Papers 1-1-1913 The etH ch Hetchy Valley In The oY semite National Park, What It Is and The aD ngers Threatening Its Destruction. John Muir Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmb Recommended Citation Muir, John, "The eH tch Hetchy Valley In The osY emite National Park, What It Is and The aD ngers Threatening Its Destruction." (1913). John Muir: A Reading Bibliography by Kimes. 363. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmb/363 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the John Muir Papers at Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in John Muir: A Reading Bibliography by Kimes by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ~ ~~:j_t .-.. .; .....~ • . :-= ~. : ·.~·•• :~ •• -.,.t.~.Jl;~_~r.~_.i \ ~ ... ("' . .;.' :_ . ·= .... ~ - -s.-:~("' -t' • . ~··t' ·1~ . - . :: ·.' .. Mor·' e Lt'ght on ·~.:;. tt-11'il'Yli~'.: ~estructive oTHER sounc~yAI~!l~ FoR sAN FRANCisco. • ~· .. : -- )"'!>' D The Advisory Board oOArmy ·~ngip_eers on Feb. 19, 1913, after ---~· Hetch Hetchy)~iiScheme investigating the water suppl:y·situation 'of San Francisco, arrived at .. 7 The Yosemite National .Park i·s .. notf'~ nly the g reatest and most the following conclusion : '~ )': '.' ' •· • . , "The Board is of the opm1on. that there are several sourcea of '· wonderful national playground in Calitornia, but in many of its fea- b b • · 'd d d b th • f s tures it is without a rival in the_, whole wo rld. It belongs to the water supply that could e 0 Ia~ . an use Y e City 0 . an Francisco and adjacent commumtit:tc to supplement the near-by American people, and in worlcl-\viae interest ranks with the Yellow- supplies as the necessity develops. ;\\From any one of these aourCM stone and the Grand Caiion of the Co lorado. It embraces the head- the water is sufficient in quantity and is,' or can be made, suitable waters of two rivers-the Merce<l· and the Tuolumne. The Yosemite in quality, while the engineering difficul~es are not insurmountable. Valley is in the 1\'Ierced basilt; the Hctch Hetchy Valley, the Grand The determining factor is principally oncf.,.!!f cost." Caiion of the Tuolumne,- and the Tuolumne l'l'leadows arc in the In the face of this report, the truth thaf Sap Francisco can obtain Tu<;~hu~m ~ basin. Excep.\iiig O!t ly the Yosemite Valley, the Tuolumne abundance of pure mountain water for present'a!Jcl .future needs witlll- basm Ill Its general features IS the more wonderful and the larg·er out invading the Yosemite Park can no longer li ~ ·· uuestioned. half of the park. : I· . · w · · The 1-Ietch ·Hetchy Valley is a wo nderfully exact counterpart of SAN FRANCISCO CLAIMS AN EMERGENCY. ' the great. Yp ~ emite, not onl y in its cl iffs and waterfalls and peaceful As an excuse for haste in railroading the Raker bill tht \u~h . Con· ·. riveJi 9t~t )h the gardens, groves, meadows and ca mp grounds of its gress at this extra session under the overshadowing tariff aii"d · ·cur~ : flo. vi! , ark-hke fl oor. rency bill s, it is called "an emergency measure." It is well kno1VJi: .~ · '.i ' In l SV O Cong ress, with wise fo resight, cleclicatecl to the American that San Francisco needs water, but her own engineers admit that the'1· ': ' p.~op l e for a ll time th is g reat health-giving playground . The Yosem- present supply can be more than doubled by adding nearby sources, '\ ') . .,. .~· ,,.. ,~J) te Valley had already been made a park and it was primarily to and under the circumstances this is the only possible plan of develop- 't{,{'('.';r ·. ~~ '-r'"fl' preserve the H etch Het~hy Valley and Tuolumne Meadows from ment before the city goes to any of the Sierra streams. ''t-.:· -~· destruction that the greater Yosemite National Park was created. Brigadier-General H . M. Chittenden, u. s. A. , who recently made -..!!..,;.:. t ~ · This was done ten years before San Francisco began to covet the an elaborate investigation of San Francisco's water supply needs r~ •· Hetch H etchy Valley. ported as follows: Negligently allowing opportunity after opportunity for making "So far as q11 a11 tity is concerned there is no present tt ecessity for adequate provision for a future water supply to slip away and pass a reso rf to the Sierra, and will not be for an indefinite period to / into private hand s she finally awoke to the fact that one of the cheap- come." est sources remaining was the so-called Hetch Hetchy source on the The claim San Francisco 's Representatives are making that po r- uolumnc River in the Na tional Parle This so urce attracted San tions of the city are without water and that there is a water famine rancisco solely because Congress had set it apart for the usc and rec- imminent, is entirely aside from the question, for this situation ca nnot at ion of all the American peo ple and · consequently during all these be relieved in any way by the Hetclt H etchy, even if th e city gets it, ears it had remained free from private claims. for it must go elsewhere for water in the meantime. The city officials San Francisco is making desperate efforts to get Hetch Hetchy and the water company have fin all y come to an agreement and have 0r a rese rvo ir, plan ning to fl ood the vall ey to a depth of two or three commenced the construction of a cl am in the Calaveras Valley across hundred feet, burying all its grove and garden camp grounds. The the bay, which will add ·40,000,000 gallons daily to the present sup- effect of fl ooding. the Hetch Hetchy Valley would be the same as if ply, doubling it, and will relieve the situation so that it will be un- the Yosemite Vall ey were fl ooded, leaving not a single spot for a camp. necessary to com mence any Sierra project for many years to come. T hi s same appli cation by the city for water rights in Hetch Het.chy The estimates of E ngineer H. H. Wadsworth, who assisted the has been deni ed several times in the past. Secretary of the Interior Army Board, and the conclusions of the Army Board itself indicate Hitchcock refused it in most emph atic terms in 1V0 3, saying: that it will be many years before these nearby sources are exhausted "Presumably th e Yosemite National Park was created such by . and that San Francisco's present claim of emergency is not consistent law because of the natural objects, of varying deg rees of scenic im- wi th the facts. John R. Freeman, the leading engineer employed by po rtance, located wi thin its boundaries, inclusive alike of its beautiful the city, repo rted that construction work 0 11 the Retch H etchy project small lakes·,- Hke Eleanor, and its majestic wonders, like Hetch Hetchy could be deferred for several years and that it would be greater econ- and Yosemite Valley . It is the aggregation of such natural scenic omy to utilize nearer sources meanwhile. (See pp. 69, 74, Froeman features that makes the Yosemite Park a wonderland wh ich the Con- repo rt, 1Vl2). gress of the United· States sought by law to preserve for all coming time as nearl y as practicable in the co ndition fashioned by the hand of HETCH HETCHY SOURCES RECENTLY PROVEN INSUF- the Creator-a worthy obj ect of national pride and a source of health- FICIENT IN QUANTITY AND MORE EXPENSIVE ful pleasure and rest for the thousands of people who may annually THAN OTHER SOURCES. sojourn there durin g- the heated months." A little later Sec- Heccnt government records completely refute San Francisco's retary of the Navy 1\-Ictcalf rendered a concurring opinion. In clai m that enough water can be conserved in th e H etch Hetchy pro- l V00 -10 the city applied to Congress, bu t recognizin g- that the bill would ject to supply the irrigation districts with the amo unt g uaranteed be defeated it was allowed to die. Secretary of the Interior Garfield th em by th e terms of the Haker bill now pending in Congress and granted a qualified permit to use Lake E leanor fir st, but Secretary of also furni sh the amount estimated to be necessary for the city. Ever the Interior Ballinger called on the city to show cause why the Hetclt since August 1, lVll, the fl ow of the Tuolumne river has been less Hetchy portion of this pe rmit should not be eliminated, and Secretary than the amount required to satisfy these two uses, and the water of the Interior F isher in 1913 confirm ed this order, saying that there stored in th e system would have been drawn on to make up the de- was grave danger in creating such a precedent where only the saving ficiency . Prior to October 1, 1912, ·th e reservoirs would have been of money was involved. completely drained and no water from the Tuolumne source would Encouraged by the change in administration at Washington the have been avail able for the bay citi es dming th ~ entire Y.ea r 1913 city is again asking Congress for this priceless wonderland which and no probability of more water until April, 1Vl4, when the snows belongs to all the American people.