11 Facts About Hetch Hetchy

Seventeen species of bats inhabit the Hetch Hetchy area, including the largest North American bat, the western mastiff.

Chief Tenaya of the Yosemite Valley's Ahwaneechee tribe claimed that Hetch Hetchy was Miwok for "Valley of the Two Trees", referring to a pair of yellow pines that once stood at the head of Hetch Hetchy.

Muir, who himself had briefly worked as a shepherd in Hetch Hetchy, was known for calling sheep "hoofed locusts" because of their environmental impact.

Proponents of the dam replied that out of multiple sites considered by San Francisco, Hetch Hetchy had the "perfect architecture for a reservoir", with pristine water, lack of development or private property, a steep-sided and flat-floored profile that would maximize the amount of water stored, and a narrow outlet ideal for placement of a dam.

Controversy over Hetch Hetchy was in the context of other political scandals and controversies, especially prevalent in the Taft administration.

Related searches

An additional hydroelectric system comprising Cherry Lake, Lake Eleanor and the Holm Powerhouse is part of the Hetch Hetchy Project, adding another 169 megawatts of generating capacity.

Water from Hetch Hetchy is some of the cleanest municipal water in the United States; San Francisco is one of six U S cities not required by law to filter its tap water, although the water is disinfected by ozonation and, since 2011, exposure to UV.

The water quality is high because of the unique geology of the upper Tuolumne River drainage basin, which consists mostly of bare granite; as a result, the rivers feeding Hetch Hetchy Reservoir have extremely low loads of sediments and nutrients.

Battle over Hetch Hetchy Valley continues today between those who wish to retain the dam and reservoir, and those who wish to drain the reservoir and return Hetch Hetchy Valley to its former state.

In 2015, Restore Hetch Hetchy filed a complaint arguing that the construction of the dam had violated a provision in the constitution of California about water use, but the lawsuit was rejected by an appeals court and later the California State Supreme Court.

Opponents of dam removal have pointed out that the flooding of the Hetch Hetchy Valley has deterred the crowds that overrun other areas of Yosemite National Park.