 |
In 2004, in response to a legislative request, Governor Schwarzenegger directed the Resources Agency to review the many Hetch Hetchy restoration studies prepared by other organizations and public agencies over the past 20 years. In conducting the study, the state provided the first-ever public forum to discuss Hetch Hetchy Valley restoration issues.
The final report is a comprehensive and objective analysis of the previous studies and will contribute to a well-informed discussion on the complex issues associated with restoration, water supply and power reliability.
This new report found major information gaps in such areas as dam removal, benefits of restoring the valley, replacing water and power benefits of existing system, and public involvement. Costs for the restoration could range from $3 billion to nearly $10 billion, depending on water and power supplies replacement, the type of valley restoration activities and other factors.
No formal recommendation is made about next steps, but further investigations into Hetch Hetchy Valley restoration cannot be led by the State of California alone. Federal participation is needed to shape future studies in this process.
|
Background
Hetch Hetchy supplies an average of 220 million gallons per day of exceptionally high-quality water to over 2.4 million people in the San Francisco Bay Area, and generates an annual average of 1.7 billion kilowatt-hours hydroelectricity. In December 1913, amidst much controversy, Congress passed the Raker Act, which granted the City the rights to build the Hetch Hetchy system. Construction of the Hetch Hetchy system began in 1914 and O'Shaughnessy Dam was completed in 1923. In 1987, Secretary of the Interior Donald Hodel proposed the restoration of Hetch Hetchy Valley, and directed the US Bureau of Reclamation to prepare a reconnaissance-level review of this concept on behalf of the National Park Service. US Department of Energy, Assembly Office of Research, the Department of Water Resources also studied the subject at that time. Recent studies by Environmental Defense and UC Davis have renewed public and legislative interest in restoring Hetch Hetchy Valley.
Why State Involvement?
Consistent with its mission to manage the state's natural resources, the California Resources Agency is reviewing existing studies on the restoration of Hetch Hetchy Valley. Although Hetch Hetchy is not a state-owned or operated facility, changes to the system would have impacts on California's natural resource management activities and responsibilities, including water and energy supplies, ecosystem impacts, water quality, recreational and economic considerations. By reviewing the range of conclusions and considerations in these existing studies, and evaluating the likely costs of the project, the state can provide additional information to support the public policy discussions surrounding the future of Hetch Hetchy.
Site Information
Please use below listing of topics for this site, or the navigation menu at left.
|
|
Items marked by a red asterisk ( ) are made available through a third party, not the originating source. PDF documents require Adobe Acrobat Reader to view.
|
|
