Over the past 100 years, a project built by Utah Construction Company remains at the center of the conservation movement. Environmental advocates have pushed for the dam to be dismantled and to allow the Tuolumne River to run its natural course. Proponents for the upkeep of the dam have commented on the continual need for clean drinking water and the hydroelectric power provided by the dam. They argue that the dam provides water to one-third of the Bay Area.
What do you think? Would Yosemite be better off with the dam gone? Has too much of the biodiversity changed? Do basic needs like water and power outweigh the beauty of nature? To learn more about Hetch Hetchy: visit National Park Service Yosemite and the Sierra Club.
References:
University of Berkeley Special Collections
University of California, Riverside Special Collections
San Francisco Public Library
Weber State University, UCC Archives
Special thanks to our funders:
Denise Sobel
Friends of the Stewart Library
Hemingway Foundation
Weber County RAMP
Informational Tidbits
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Did you know that in May 1903, President Teddy Roosevelt spent four days exploring Yosemite with John Muir?
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Did you know that O’Shaughnessy Dam holds 117 billion gallons of drinking water?
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Did you know that during the Gold Rush of 1849, water peddlers were selling a bucket of drinking water for a dollar in gold each? This would be around forty dollars a bucket today in terms of inflation, or about a hundred dollars using the price of gold!
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Did you know that before the O’Shaughnessy Dam was built, a smaller dam was built just to provide power for the main dam’s construction?
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Did you know that the Hetch Hetchy Railroad saved ten times as much money as it cost to build, just in hauling cement?
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Did you know that San Francisco had already been destroyed by fire multiple times during the Gold Rush?
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Did you know that July 7, 2023, was the 100 year anniversary of the O’Shaughnessy Dam’s initial dedication?