Re: Bridalveil Fall Rehabilitation Environmental Assessment Open for Public Review

From the National Park Service (NPS):

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Yosemite National Park announces the release of the Bridalveil Fall Rehabilitation Environmental Assessment (Bridalveil Fall EA) and opening of the public comment period until March 14, 2018. The Bridalveil Fall EA describes and analyzes two action alternatives to improve visitor services and facilities in the Bridalveil Fall area. The preferred alternative (Alternative 3) would:

• Replace vault toilets with flush toilets at the Bridalveil Fall parking lot
• Construct a new accessible loop trail from the parking lot to a viewing platform
• Enhance the parking lot within its existing footprint to improve safety and congestion
• Expand the existing viewing platform
• Improve congested conditions at Bridalveil Straight (along Southside Drive)

Yosemite is hosting a public meeting on February 28, 2018 in Mariposa to provide an opportunity to learn more about the Brid­alveil Fall EA, interact with park staff, and ask questions about the project. The meeting will take place from 3pm to 6pm at the Mariposa County Government Center in the Board Chambers. On March 1, 2018, the park will host a public webinar about the Bridalveil Fall project from 9:30am to 10:30am. Please follow this link for the webinar: http://yose.webex.com

Public participation is an important element of the planning process and we welcome your comments. The Bridalveil Fall EA is available for review and comment on the Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) website at:
https://parkplanning.nps.gov/bridalveil

To request printed documents (available in limited quantity), call (209) 379-1221 or e-mail yose_planning@nps.gov. You may also mail comments, date stamped by March 14, 2018, to the following address:

Superintendent
Attn: Bridalveil Fall EA/Superintendent
P.O. Box 577
Yosemite National Park, CA 95389

The NPS will prepare a decision document after analysis of public comments and conclusion of agency consultation.

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Leave No Trace

From the EA paper, it sounds like they're going to be using water from a nearby well to flush the toilets. I can't tell if the water (some or all) is going to treated for drinking. I didn't see any mention of drinking fountains or bottle-filling stations in the plan but it didn't mention hand-washing sinks either. Maybe those are all part of a flush-toilet comfort station and don't need to be mentioned separately? It would be kind of silly to go to all the trouble of installing a water supply only to have to post "Do not drink!" signs. Or worse, "Do not drink from the toilets".

I remember seeing a defunct water faucet sticking out of the ground near the Bridalveil restrooms and wondering what it had originally been for and why it had been taken out of service. The only time I hiked through that area (from the El Cap Bridge shuttle stop) I knew to bring a filter and top up my bottles at one of the Bridalveil bridges.

Why would they need to treat the well water? Sorry if this is a dumb question.

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chulavista
Why would they need to treat the well water?

Testing most likely showed they needed to.