Re: Muir's March to Restore Hetch Hetchy Valley

Here we go. This whole thing is an "all the king's horses and all the king's men" thing.

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Old Dude

Mike,
Did you read the "we need to remove HH Dam to restore the Salmon" article?
Did you also know that "restoring" HH will solve world hunger?

How about just draining it and then decide whether we really want to remove the dam? Might be better not to see HH naked!

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The cure for a fallacious argument is a better argument, not the suppression of ideas.
-- Carl Sagan

During the drought in the 80's the valley was virtually naked. There is no way it will ever be made to look original.

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Old Dude

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mrcondron
During the drought in the 80's the valley was virtually naked. There is no way it will ever be made to look original.

No, but growing some trees will help a lot.

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eeek

Quote
mrcondron
During the drought in the 80's the valley was virtually naked. There is no way it will ever be made to look original.

No, but growing some trees will help a lot.

General scientific opinion is that the layer of "silt" at the bottom of Hetch Hetchy is relatively thin, owing to the resilience of the landscapes above. Thus, the general topography of the Valley floor is largely preserved. If the dam were drained, the river would quickly find it's original bed route; likely meadows and marshes could be indentified, and forests could be replanted at appropriate dry spots. Restoration would take some work, although a considerable amount would probably happen naturally. Willows and grasses would grow back quickly with help, providing stability for the riverbank. I believe that general attractiveness could be attained in a decade, and that after 25 years the only obvious differences from the natural state would be modest tree sizes and the "bathtub ring", this last requiring probably several decades to centuries to wear back to a natural-looking patina.

My son would be able to enjoy a nearly-prisitine Hetch-Hetchy Valley by the time he was 45, and his children and grandchildren could revel in it.

The dam is a cute little thing and most people that go to Hetch Hetchy go to see the dam and lake, if they're lucky Wapama will be in it's glory. I have not yet talked to a person on the dam while I was either coming from or going on a backpacking trip that thought the whole scene was anything but beautiful. There may have been some restorers there but none that I talked to in nearly 30 years of crossing the dam.

There are things that need doing in the park now that would enhance the experiences of visitors now and on into the future. Things that could be done with a bit of the resources of time and money spent on the quest of restoring HH.

Fire ring removal. Go ANYWHERE in the back country and wherever you might be inclined to pitch a tent there will be a fire ring within 10 feet. This is park wide and much more offensive to me than the existence of a legacy dam.

Bears. The bear problem in the valley and LYV is a result of ineffective education and enforcement. Bears are being put down now because of this. Throw some energy and money at this problem.

Enforcement shortfalls at popular backpacking camping areas. Volunteer to be back country "ranger" and be involved in educating the backpackers that think their improper waste disposal, washing in lakes, pitching on the water, making fires above the elevation limit won't hurt anything because it's "just me doing it this one time".

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Old Dude

The will NEVER git rid of that darn toilet ring around the HH Valley even if they did pull the plug and FLUSH!!