Hetch Hetchy Valley. Courtesy of the University of California, Riverside.
The idea of building a dam in the Hetch-Hetchy Valley sparked a nationwide controversy over what should and should not be allowed within our national parks. Organizations and newspapers across the country got involved in advocating for or against the dam. One of the organizations that most adamantly opposed the dam was the Sierra Club, led by famed environmentalist John Muir.
Hetch Hetchy Valley. Courtesy of the University of California, Riverside.
The arguments against the creation of the dam included: the intended purpose of a national park, the existence of other water and power sources, land exchange and the beauty of the area.
Many people who argued against the reservoir’s creation claimed it directly opposed the purpose of a national park: to preserve the land and its resources for public use and recreation.
Supporters of the bill cited the 1901 congressional law that authorized the Secretary of the Interior to grant right-of-way permits through public lands, including national parks, for water supply purposes if it was not incompatible with the public interest. Muir and the Sierra Club argued the 1901 law only applied to “rights of way, etc. which will not destroy the natural condition of wonders of the park” and damming Hetch-Hetchy would destroy the valley.
Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, looking west toward the dam site. Courtesy of the University of California, Riverside.
The one thing both sides seemed to agree on was San Francisco’s need for a water supply after the devastating earthquake and fire of 1906. Opponents of the dam, however, believed the city could find a suitable water supply outside of Yosemite National Park. Environmentalists and engineers argued there were at least a dozen other possible sources outside the park in addition to the possibility of increasing sources the city was already utilizing. Adding more fuel to their argument, many San Francisco officials did not deny that other sources were available. The issue for San Francisco was the quality of the supply. Marsden Manson wrote, “None of the supplies named on these pages is comparable in availability, abundance, nor purity.”
Removal of timber for the dam. Courtesy of the University of California, Berkeley, Bancroft Library.
Both sides argued over whether damming Hetch-Hetchy would diminish or enhance the valley’s beauty. One of John Muir’s most famous quotes regarding Hetch-Hetchy was that
Landscape gardens, places of recreation and worship, are never made beautiful by destroying and burying them.
Those who advocated for the dam disagreed, arguing that the lake formed by the dam would enhance the area’s beauty. San Francisco city engineer Marsden Manson stated, “The most striking natural features about the valley are all above [the water line]” and that the valley floor would be flooded but substituted from trees and meadows to a lake. William Edward Colby of the Sierra Club disagreed, replying
The fact that most of the beautiful falls and the greater portion of the majestic cliffs will be above the high-water level of the reservoir is to Mr. Manson’s mind proof positive that no destructive effect will result from flooding the exceptionally beautiful park-like floor of the valley. This argument is like saying that to flood the beautifully inlaid floor of a cathedral would destroy none of the wonderful frescos on the walls.