Dan Lungren and John Van de Kamp have penned an opinion piece in the L.A. Times about the Hetch Hetchy Valley. They’d like to see the valley restored and the dam removed. I’m too young to remember what the valley looked like, but I’m of the opinion that it’s too late, and California has already wasted too much of the taxpayer’s money doing idiotic things like re-electing mistakes for governor and investing in high speed rail that nobody – except those getting rich off kickbacks – wants.
Dan Lungren is a Republican who served California as Attorney General, and John Van de Kamp is a democract who did the same. George Carlin once famously said “Bipartisan usually means that a larger-than-usual deception is being carried out.” Keep that in mind.
From the article:
One hundred years ago this month, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Raker Act, which allowed San Francisco to build a dam in Yosemite National Park and convert the spectacular Hetch Hetchy Valley into a municipal reservoir.
As native Californians who have often visited Yosemite, we can think of no greater crime committed against the national parks. But it’s not too late to undo the damage. We should take the opportunity of this centennial to reform San Francisco’s water system and return Hetch Hetchy Valley to the American people.
Hetch Hetchy Valley was once home to a richly diverse ecosystem, surrounded by towering cliffs and waterfalls similar to those in neighboring Yosemite Valley. The Tuolumne River, the source of much of the Bay Area’s water, flowed through it unobstructed. Today, most of Yosemite National Park’s visitors crowd into Yosemite Valley, unaware of its submerged twin 15 miles to the north. Were the reservoir to be drained and Hetch Hetchy Valley restored, the world would rediscover one of America’s great natural treasures and tourist pressure on Yosemite Valley would be relieved.
You can read the rest of the article HERE.