Hetch Hetchy Plan Is in Limbo

Proposed fee boost for Yosemite water faces fight.

by Michael Doyle
Fresno Bee - May 15, 2004

President Bush's long-shot proposal to squeeze a lot more money from San Francisco for Hetch Hetchy Reservoir water remains a Capitol Hill orphan.

Three months after the idea was included in Bush's budget proposal, no Hetch Hetchy legislation has been introduced, no hearings have been held, and scant White House follow-through can be detected.

No one said it would be easy. Bush's proposal to increase San Francisco's annual Hetch Hetchy fee to $8 million, up from the current $30,000, incited immediate opposition from some of California's most powerful members of Congress.

Myriad other White House proposals, from raising agricultural inspection fees to promoting a manned mission to Mars, have similarly fallen into limbo. Their political life span, in some cases, is confined to the day they are made public.

But Yosemite National Park managers, as well as some local lawmakers, still hope for more consideration of the idea that popped up with only a two-sentence explanation on Page 619 of the administration's proposed budget. The additional funds would flow back to Yosemite, according to the administration.

"It may not have to be the full $8 million all at once," Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, said Friday.

Radanovich represents Yosemite and chairs the House subcommittee overseeing parks and public lands. He said he hasn't heard anything from administration officials about the idea since the Bush budget was made public in early February.

While Radanovich is sympathetic to the fee increase, Sen. Dianne Feinstein -- a former San Francisco mayor -- voiced immediate concern.

In a Feb. 23 letter to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, Feinstein posed pointed questions about the Hetch Hetchy proposal.

Like Radanovich, though, Feinstein has been kept guessing. Noting that "despite repeated requests by my staff, we have been unable to obtain information" on the proposal, Feinstein called Feb. 23 for a "prompt response" to her questions. As of Friday, Feinstein's office had not received an Interior Department reply.

Yosemite officials say the first they heard of the Hetch Hetchy fee proposal was the day the proposed budget was made public. Since then, responsibility for the proposal has remained in the hands of Interior Department officials in Washington, though Yosemite's managers enthuse about the general concept.

"Anytime the park can get more money, we're on it," said Yosemite spokeswoman Deb Schweizer.

National Park Service spokesman David Barna said Friday that "the legislative proposal is still under development." In the meantime, some additional details are becoming clear.

The administration favors San Francisco receiving credit for the payments it already makes for Hetch Hetchy use, Barna said. The current $30,000 fee, an additional $300,000 annually that the city pays for dam protection, and $2.5 million paid for watershed protection should all be counted toward the $8 million the administration wants to charge San Francisco, Barna said.

Some additional questions may be answered if Congress convenes a hearing on the proposal. Radanovich said he has asked Tracy Republican Richard Pombo, chairman of the House Resources Committee, for a hearing involving several subcommittees.

"It's going to happen," Radanovich said of the hearing, "but there's a lot on our plate right now, and it's probably not going to happen for a couple of months."

Tactical timing comes into play, as well. Radanovich said he doesn't want the Hetch Hetchy issue to interfere with his bill that would steer some Yosemite park funds into several local schools.

Different versions of the Yosemite schools bill have been approved by the House and by a Senate committee, but until it's concluded, Radanovich doesn't want another Yosemite controversy to get in the way.

San Francisco's current fee is set in the Raker Act of 1913, named for the Democratic congressman from Modoc County who wrote the bill. This statutory language means it's up to Congress to revise the Hetch Hetchy fee by amending the Raker Act; presidents can't do it on their own.

"The budget process is tenuous, and you never know until it's all done," said Jennifer Crider, spokeswoman for San Francisco Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader.

But "we've been keeping the pressure up, to make sure that provision isn't included."