Awe-Inspiring Price Tag to Drain Hetch Hetchy

by Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross
San Francisco Chronicle - July 19, 2006

It would cost anywhere from $3 billion to $10 billion to fulfill one of California environmentalists' fondest dreams -- draining Hetch Hetchy Reservoir and restoring a valley in Yosemite National Park that John Muir called "one of nature's rarest and most precious mountain temples."

Young visitors to the Hetch Hetchy Valley take a break from their hike and take in the view. Chronicle file photo, 2005, by Shelley Eades

That is the conclusion of a report worked up by the state Department of Water Resources, analyzing what it would take to bring back Hetch Hetchy Valley and find alternative sources of water and power for San Francisco, which operates the valley's O'Shaughnessy Dam. The cost estimate is more in line with what critics of the idea expected, and as much as 10 times the figure floated by environmentalists.

"Clearly, it's not cheap,'' said Assemblyman Joe Canciamilla, D-Pittsburg, one of a handful of officials who have been briefed on the findings. The report has not been made public.

"But we knew it was going to be expensive,
no matter what the option,'' said Canciamilla,

who is nevertheless still intrigued by the possibility of restoring Hetch Hetchy.

The idea was first raised back in the 1980s
by then-Energy Secretary Donald Hodel, but it really gained traction two years ago when the nonprofit group Environmental Defense issued a report called "Paradise Regained." It put the cost of draining Hetch Hetchy, coming up with other sources of water for 2.4 million Bay Area customers and replacing the electricity that Hetch Hetchy generates for San Francisco at anywhere from $500 million to $1.5 billion.

Hetch Hetchy Valley was described by John Muir as "one of nature's rarest and most precious mountain temples." Photo courtesy of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission

Canciamilla and other state and local officials who have been informed of the state report, which Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered up at environmentalists' urging, said its $3 billion estimate wouldn't even cover the cost of knocking down O'Shaughnessy Dam -- that would be enough only to punch a hole through it to drain the basin. The $10 billion figure would pay for full restoration of a valley drowned by the Tuolumne River after Congress authorized the dam's construction in 1913.

Those who have been briefed say the report also raises doubts about whether the state even has the power to unplug Hetch Hetchy, because the water system was established by federal legislation.

Critics of the big drain -- including Hetch Hetchy's overseers at the usually green-friendly San Francisco Public Utilities Commission -- were quick to use the findings to douse the restoration idea.

"What we know about the report confirms our worst fears as it relates to the massive costs and challenges that would come from draining Hetch Hetchy,'' said PUC spokesman Tony Winnicker, whose agency is already spending $4.3 billion to retrofit the Hetch Hetchy system.

Winnicker predicted that the high price tag would probably kill the idea.

Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, never a fan of draining Hetchy Hetchy, said the new report underscored that "this is whimsical at best.''

To the contrary, said Tom Graff, regional director of Environmental Defense. He said the state findings only underscore the project's feasibility, even if the costs are higher than expected.

"To me, the big news is the state put a lot of time and effort into investigating the idea in detail, and it's a step in a long journey to what we see as an inevitable restoration of a crucial element in a national park,'' Graff said.

Canciamilla said that what the report really concludes is that it will take yet another study -- "probably in the range of several million dollars'' -- to answer in any depth just what the restoration project would cost and whether it's doable.

It's money that Canciamilla thinks would be worth spending, even given the state's current infrastructure needs.

Still, draining Hetch Hetchy, and with it much of the Bay Area's water supply, may not be an issue the governor is willing to address any time soon.

"It's too bad this is coming out in the middle of an election campaign,'' concedes Graff. "We would have preferred it six months ago.''