Hetch-Hetchy Valley was first discovered in 1871 by John Muir. Muir referred to this valley to Yosemite Valley because of its glamorous views. The name of this valley is derived from Miwok word hatchhatchie, meaning edible grass (tchistory). Hetchy-Hetch was used shortly after as a reservoir and water system for the Bay Area. Hetch-Hetchy Valley is located in the Yosemite National Park of California. Water from Hetch-Hetchy was delivered through the damming of the Tuolumne River at around 3,800 feet elevation; it travels through complex tunnels through the Sierra Nevada. The Hetch-Hetchy Valley presents two of the tallest waterfalls in North America. This valley is also a place where visitors can witness the beautiful wildlife and water streams in all seasons of the year. Hetch-Hetchy also displays a diverse bunch of plants and animals. Plants that are present in this valley include an abundance of gray pine, incense cedar, and black oak. Lupine, wallflowers, monkey flowers, and buttercup appear on this magnificent valley in the spring and summer. Animals on this valley include a large species of bats, rattlesnakes, and even black bears. This valley is definitely one of the best findings in California because of it is one of the most important necessities that people who live in the Bay Area require to live. Hetch-Hetchy Valley has a really rich history and background ever since it was formed.
Long before Hetch-Hetchy was discovered by John Muir, American Indians have lived on this reservoir for more than 6,000 years; this valley was the ideal place to gather seeds and plants, as well as for hunting and trading. A few years after the visit of John Muir, San Francisco has started to consider this valley as a place for a reservoi...
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... Area, including the Crystal Springs Reservoir, Pllaritos Reservoir, San Andreas Reservoir, and finally to San Francisco.
The Bay Area Water Supply & Conservation Agency (BAWSCA) believes that the Hetch-Hetchy water system is the best way to serve the citizens living in the Bay Area with clean and affordable water. Many water agencies and cities that are now part of BAWSCA encouraged the Raker Act in 1913, the law that allowed the building of dams on Hetch-Hetchy, to be passed. The BAWSCA is looking for ways to conserve and recycle water in order to preserve the water of Hetch-Hetchy.
The Hetch-Hetchy water system provides most of the water that many cities in the Bay Area uses. The Hetch-Hetchy reservoir accounts for 85 percent of the water that San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Alameda uses. 15 percent comes from the Alameda and Peninsula watersheds.
The primary purpose of Friend dam is to help regulate the flow of San Joaquin into available uses of its environmental, wildlife, and farmer’s impacts. The dam controls the flow of water delivery where it needs authorization first before the schedule can release any delivery waters into canals, steam, and wild life habitats. There will be agreements and many protocols to do with it first to avoid unnecessary spilling. There are 5 release schedules which include quantity of water available, time water, flood control requirements, release schedules from storage reservoir above Millerton Lake, and water user requirements. These benefits of flood control, storage management, modification into Madera and Friant-Kern Canals, to stop salty water from abolishing thousands of lands in Sacramento and throughout San Joaquin Delta, as well as deliver masses of water into agricultural lands in 5other counties in the San Joaquin Valley.
John Muir and Edward Abbey are both in agreement when it comes to the tampering of national parks; they both had a disdain for commercialization or industrialization of the natural landscape of them. Muir was a preservationist who believed the natural landscape, especially significant areas of beauty like Hetch Hetchy Valley which was ultimately dammed, should be left alone. He felt places like Hetch Hetchy were resources for “uplifting joy and peace and health of the people (370).” Meaning their value to humans was much greater if left uncommercialized and unpolluted. Muir also believed people overstepped their bounds when they drastically altered the environment for their own self-interest;
In the 1800’s into the early 1900’s a man named John Muir began to explore the western American lands. He traveled down South and up North. But, when he reached Yosemite Valley, his life changed. As said in John Muir’s Wild America, written by Tom Melham, “Following the forest-lined mountain trails, Muir climbed higher into the Sierra Nevada: suddenly, a deep valley enclosed by colossal steeps and mighty water falls yawned before him. Spell bound, he entered Yosemite Valley” (79). Muir’s travels and adventures, highlighted in Melham’s book, explain this man’s love of the wilderness. Yosemite Valley was like a wide, open home to Muir, who, lived alone and discovered new landings and important later landmarks that create the aura of Yosemite National Park. Yosemite Valley was given to the state of California in 1864, part of the continuous idea of Manifest Destiny, later, in 1890; Yosemite became one of the first National Parks (“World Book”). Uniquely, the longer Muir stayed the more that he...
The headwaters of the Upper Sacramento river is located in the town of Mount Shasta. The glacier and snow melt from the mountain filters into the Mount Shasta volcanic aquifer and comes
The Hetch-Hetchy valley was initially a V shaped ravine that had been slowly carved out over time by the ancient Tuolumne River. After some glacial formations occurred during the last glacial period the valley was carved into what it appears as today around 10,000 years ago due to the melting of the glaciers. After the glaciers had finished melting they formed the alluvial flood plain that composes the valley’s floor. In comparison to the other similar valleys found in the region, the Hetch-Hetchy valley has much more round and smooth walls due to its higher abundance of glaciation. Before the valley was dammed and flooded, it was home to many different types of flora and animal life. It was also home to many Native American hunting and gathering tribes in the mid-1800s, however by the late 1880s the city of San Francisco already had its eye on the valley as a solution to its growing water system problems.
Yosemite National Park, is a beautiful piece of nature it is a 195 mile nature getaway from the urban life that is lived San Francisco, CA and 315 miles away from the fast pace and overwhelming life that is lived in Los Angeles CA. This place is like no other in the beauty of its nature. The park is “747,956 acres, and is the home to hundreds of wildlife species and thousands of Yosemite plants” (U.S. Nat. Park Service). Yosemite is known for so many beautiful features, from its granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, giant sequoia groves and biological diversity. And also for its two rivers which are the Tuolumne and Merced rivers. These rivers begin in the park and flow as far as west to the Central Valley.
While this was most likely not his intention, his rhetoric would lay the foundation of what the average American expected to experience, and see, when out in nature. Muir’s definition of wilderness was grounded in the most aesthetically pleasing a specific environment could be, not human presence; although humans do have a habit of natural destruction. While discussing the found in Black Hills Reserve he includes arnica as one of plants, which, “Give abundance of color and make all the woods a garden” (Muir). Interestingly, Arnica, also known as Wolfsbane, is an invasive species brought over from Northern Europe. To Muir the components of a wilderness, “as pure as paradise” do not necessarily have to be traditionally native as long as it is beautiful. By placing this emphasis on beauty in the wilderness the American people expected to see a beautiful wilderness, although in reality these two are not mutually exclusive. Muir supported a form of natural improvement in which alterations to the natural world are made, but not with any economic value in mind. Interestingly, Muir suggests that our wildness is a commodity to which, we are glad to see how much of even the most destructible kind is still unspoiled”. (Muir) By the time the National Park Service was founded in 1916 the American people wanted to be entertained by, and in, nature
Fountain, Henry. "San Francisco Girds for Possible Threat to Water From Wildfire." N.p., 26 Aug. 2013. Web. 7 Oct. 2013. .
In the early 20th century, California became the battle grounds of one of the most famous water wars in U.S. history. It was the dawn of progress for the city of Los Angeles but progress requires an exorbitant amount of money and resources. Unfortunately for the citizens of Owens valley, the leaders of the growing city would target the river that provided thousands of ranchers with water as their primary source for water.
"San Francisco Estuarine Wetlands." San Francisco Estuarine Wetlands. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2013. .
...es the Yosemite Falls and the sequoia trees. One of the state’s problems is the appetite for water. The once fertile Owens valley is now dry and its waters tapped by Los Angeles. In the Imperial Valley, the eradication of water is controlled by the All-American Canal which gets its water from the Colorado River. In Central Valley the poor distribution is the water problem that is an imbalance lessened by the vast Central Valley project. California had cutbacks in federally funded water in the 1970sand 80s which led to California cities buying water from areas that had a surplus of water. But California failed to make a long-term to plan and the federal government stopped the funding of water to the state in 2003. But with all this being said and done, California remains to be a unique state with a lot of entertainment, history, agriculture and a productive economy.
The Water Crisis in California has been a major problem in the United States. California
Prevention is necessary to control many problems in the Chesapeake Bay. Prevention can range from something as big as a government issue or as small as a single person helping out. The greatest chance at total protection for water quality is when many people and organizations work together to prevent problems. According to the Chesapeake Bay Program, “Federal, state and non-profit Bay Program partners are working with farmers, developers, homeowners and local governments to reduce pollutants from multiple sources and restore water quality for all to enjoy” (Chesapeake Bay Program).
In modern times Oakland is known as the main metropolitan city in the East Bay. The city possesses 3 professional sports teams, which have a population of just below 400,000. Oakland is also the 3rd largest metropolitan city in the Bay Area behind San Jose, and San Francisco.( Encyclopedia Britannica ) The city mayor is the ex Governor of California Jerry Brown. Located in Alameda County Oakland’s area consists of a total square mileage of 78.2 miles, of which 56.1 miles is land, and the latter consisting of water.( Encyclopedia Britannica ) Oakland also possesses the 3rd largest seaport on the west coast.
Water purification and a wastewater treatment plants would be necessary in order to provide the citizens and visitors with clean healthy water. To prevent flooding, this city was built on flood plains.