Restoring this spectacular glacial gorge that John Muir considered one of the national park's scenic treasures could cost $3 billion and possibly as much as $10 billion according to a state report released Wednesday.
About twenty miles northwest of the spectacular Yosemite Valley once lay a similar but smaller valley known as the Hetch Hetchy. (The name comes from the Miwok language, meaning "grass-seed valley" or "acorn valley.") The free-flowing waters of the Tuolumne River raced through the valley floor. Waterfalls cascaded over magnificent granite cliffs. The photo above shows the Hetch Hetchy Valley in the early 1900s and in the photo below we see the same view today.Meanwhile, the population of faraway San Francisco was growing steadily in the early 1900s. Officials began searching for new supplies of water for the city. After considering several possibilities, they selected the waters of the Tuolumne River and decided to build a dam across the river to form a reservoir in the Hetch Hetchy Valley.
When plans for the dam and reservoir were announced, John Muir and other conservationists objected. Muir said that the flooding of the Hetch Hetchy would be like destroying one of nature's great cathedrals. In spite of Muir's spirited objections, Congress in 1913 approved the building of the dam and reservoir. Muir was greatly saddened when he heard the news. Brokenhearted, he died a few months later.
Construction of the dam began in 1914 and was completed within nine years. An aqueduct carrying water from the reservoir to San Francisco was in full operation by 1934. Today the Hetch Hetchy provides San Franciscans with about 85 percent of their water.
Above we see the Hetch Hetchy today. The valley has been flooded since 1914.
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