Re: Hetch Hetchy could go on ballot

Restore Hetch Hetchy, the group leading the effort, aims to get the measure on the November ballot.



Merced Sun Star article

The timing doesn't seem to be very good.

I know some of those blokes, & their motto is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wq923f7HD8.

I have mixed feelings about this. I actually like Hetch-Hetchy, and backpack there every spring. Like that there's not a lot of people there, and you really can get some solitude .

If the reservoir were to be drained, and the dam razed, it'd be decades before it could actually show any benefit. For a long time it'd just be a big mudhole. It'd probably be a century before it would look anything like Yosemite Valley. Wonder how long it'd be before the first gift shop/lodge/restaurant would go in??

Bill-e-g has floated the strong argument that the dam on Lake Eleanor be removed and a real-time study be done on how that area restores. It would cost a fraction of HH removal but the precess would be very similar.

---

Old Dude

Would you let Hetch Hetchy recover on its own or make a huge restoration effort? I'm sure there would be no shortage of volunteers. I think also part of the process of removing the dam would be to severely limit development i.e. campgrounds, etc.

The NPS video of the Tuolumne that eeek posted had an interesting comment by one of the rangers. She said that possibly the very existence of HH would insure that no more such dams would be built. At least it serves us in that respect. Not a lot of comfort but it's something.