Hetch Hetchy

                The Hetch Hetchy controversy is surrounded by speculation. It is often considered the beginning of the environmental battle between conservationists and wise use supporters. Many people have contributed to this ongoing fight. John Muir fought to protect Hetch Hetchy Valley while Gifford Pinchot did what he could to support the Hetch Hetchy dam proposal. In the end there were no real winners. After several years most of the parties involved regretted their decisions that lead to the building of the O’Shaughnessy Dam at Hetch Hetchy.

                “Imagine yourself in Hetch Hetchy. It’s a bight day in June; the air is drowsy with flies; the pines sway dreamily, and you are sunk shoulder-deep, in grasses and flowers” John Muir wrote on his first visit to Hetch Hetchy Valley (Righter 11). The reader can imagine the field he must be standing in, his form barely visible amongst the tall grasses and flowers. John Muir loved this valley has much as Yosemite. In 1864 Muir helped pass the Yosemite Park act which provided protection to Yosemite Valley. Unfortunately for conservationists, the act didn’t protect Hetch Hetchy Valley which lies a mere twenty miles north of Yosemite (Righter 22).  Muir enjoyed Hetch Hetchy Valley for spiritual reasons but others liked the valley for its resources.  At the time San Francisco’s population was growing and consequently straining its dwindling resources.  Politicians in San Francisco and Sacramento were looking for solutions to the water crisis, and so began the fight over Hetch Hetchy Valley.  

                San Francisco looked to the Sierra Nevada’s for new sources of water.  One proposal came from Colonel Alexis von Schmidt who suggested draining Lake Tahoe and the Truckee River. The problem was Lake Tahoe was too well known and loved. People couldn’t envision an empty cavern where Lake Tahoe once was (Righter 42).  The city of San Francisco started to look for other sources of municipal water. The South Fork of the American River, Clear Lake, the Tuolumne River, the King’s River, the Rubicon River, Lake Eleanor and the Blue Lakes were all potential candidates (Righter 43). Then in the 1880’s electricity became readily available. California was not rich in coal so hydroelectric power became extremely sought after.  With the addition of hydroelectric power, more criteria were added.  This allowed the city to narrow its options to include only Lake Eleanor, Tuolumne River, and Hetch Hetchy Valley as the water sources with the most potential (Righter 44). San Francisco took the first steps to acquire reservoir rights for Lake Eleanor and Hetch Hetchy Valley in July 29, 1901. The city hired two engineers, Josiah Whitney, C.E. Grunsky, and William Hammond Hall to survey the potential sites (Righter 47-50). In Grunsky’s recommendations to the city he suggested alternatives to the Hetch Hetchy site. He also believed that “either Lake Eleanor or Hetch Hetchy would be sufficient for the needs of San Francisco” (Righter 52). They city had decided to utilized both sites. In 1903 the city applied for the water rights to Hetch Hetchy and Lake Eleanor. It was immediately denied (Righter 55-60).  That same year Muir tried to convince President Roosevelt that the government was responsible for protecting its’ national parks. He also tried to make Roosevelt see that Hetch Hetchy needed the government’s protection. Roosevelt responded with “so far everyone has been for it and I have been in the disagreeable position of seeming to interfere with the development of the State [of California] for the sake of keeping a valley, which apparently hardly anyone wanted to have kept under national control” (Righter 62). Roosevelt was expressing that his hands were tied by way of public opinion. He could interfere with progress, however from a political stand point, protecting a valley that very few people wanted to be a national park and many people wanted to be a reservoir, was bad for public opinion.  Muir continued to lobby for Hetch Hetchy but he seemed to be losing the battle.

                Things changed when Gifford Pinchot was promoted to chief forester. Pinchot was a supporter of the project and Roosevelt would follow his lead (Righter 66). Pinchot held his position because he believed that Hetch Hetchy would provide “the greatest good for the greatest number of people” (Righter 69). In the summer of 1907 Gifford Pinchot and the Secretary of the Interior, James R. Garfield went to California to solicit the views of John Muir. Muir wholeheartedly expressed why Hetch Hetchy must be saved from destruction. This hope was short lived.  In the end Muir couldn’t change their minds. Pinchot went to Roosevelt with his recommendation that Hetch Hetchy remained the best site (Miller 171). By 1908 Hetch Hetchy was in serious trouble. In 1908 the Secretary of the Interior, James Garfield grants San Francisco rights to develop Hetch Hetchy Valley (Righter xv). Muir urged Roosevelt to only develop Lake Eleanor. Roosevelt responded by assuring Muir that the valley would be safe for at least a generation but he added “I must see that San Francisco has an adequate water supply” (Righter 70). At this point everyone involved had formed a solid opinion and would not consider changing their minds.  Muir would do anything to protect Hetch Hetchy Valley and Pinchot wanted what he called “the greatest good for the greatest number of people” and the inhabitants of San Francisco wanted water (Righter 69). No final decision had been made by 1913 so it went to congress (Righter 134). Each side presented their arguments but in the end congress passes the Raker Act, granting San Francisco the right to build a dam and develop power at Hetch Hetchy. John Muir died a year later in 1914. The O’Shaughnessy Dam was completed in 1923 (Righter xv).

                In 1987 the new Secretary of the Interior Donald Hodel begins discussions about removing the O’Shaughnessy Dam and restoring Hetch Hetchy. Although it wasn’t until 2000 that an organization devoted to restoring Hetch Hetchy was formed (Righter xvi).  When the dam was being built, people were focused almost exclusively on progress and the industrial revolution. At the time people had no foresight into the environmental problems that would face future posterity.   I can’t imagine anyone that played a role in the Hetch Hetchy controversy knowing that their actions would permanently affect the environment and environmentalism.  The building of the O’Shaughnessy Dam brought to the American public the issue of conservation and wise use.  People to this day argue over this decision. The question is, is human consumption more important than nature? To John Muir it wasn’t. He found alternatives to Hetch Hetchy.  Pinchot believe it was what was best for man and that “the first duty of the human race is to control the earth it lives upon” (Pinchot 77).