Plan For Restoring Hetch Hetchy Valley

Sep. 13 (KGO) -- The idea that just won't die has a bit of new life. For years there's been talk of tearing down the O'Shaughnesy Dam and restoring Hetch Hetchy Valley. If that were to happen, how would the water supply that much of the Bay Area depends on be replaced?

Many want to reclaim a canyon floor which has been under 300 feet of water since 1923. The group Restore Hetch Hetchy is leading the campaign.

Today they presented their own study, put together by water experts, engineers and ecologists. The study calls for getting rid of the O'Shaughnessy Dam and diverting some of the water from the Tuolumne River by building a new pump station. The water would flow into the tunnel system that already exists.

Ron Good, Restore Hetch Hetchy: "And by doing this we believe it's possible to replace 95 percent of the water and more than 70 percent of the power that would be lost if the O'Shaughnessy Dam is taken down and the Hetch Hetchy Valley is restored."

It would take five years to remove the dam. Restoration of the Hetch Hetchy Valley would begin within a few years.

Mark Cederborg, Hetch Hetchy Restoration Committee: "Within two years you could walk through the valley and you would be wading through waist-high grass and see restored wetlands."

Funding would have to come from congress and the state legislature. The estimated cost is one billion dollars. Others have said this type of restoration would cost closer to $9 billion.

But by giving up the reservoir, San Francisco could lose control of one of its most valuable commodities.

Mayor Gavin Newsom, San Francisco: "In the world we live in the reality is that we have something no one else has in this country. I don't want to risk a generation from now looking back and saying boy did we screw up to secure the needs of our population."

This debate will certainly continue. The governor is expected to receive a year-long study conducted by the Department of Water Resources on the issue. That study is to be released this fall.

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