Hetch Hetchy is a valley, a reservoir, and a water system in California in the United States. The glacial Hetch Hetchy Valley lies in the northwestern part of Yosemite National Park and is drained by the Tuolumne River. For thousands of years before the arrival of settlers from the United States in the 1850s, the valley was inhabited by Native Americans who practiced subsistence hunting-gathering. During the late 19th century, the valley was renowned for its natural beauty – often compared to that of Yosemite Valley – but also targeted for the development of water supply for irrigation and municipal interests. The controversy over damming Hetch Hetchy became mired in the political issues of the day. The law authorizing the dam passed Congress on December 7, 1913. In 1923, the O'Shaughnessy Dam was completed on the Tuolumne River, flooding the entire valley under the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. The dam and reservoir are the centerpiece of the Hetch Hetchy Project, which in 1934 began to deliver water 167 miles (269 km) west to San Francisco and its client municipalities in the greater San Francisco Bay Area.
The Tuolumne River flows for 149 miles (240 km) through Central California, from the high Sierra Nevada to join the San Joaquin River in the Central Valley. Originating at over 8,000 feet (2,400 m) above sea level in Yosemite National Park, the Tuolumne drains a rugged watershed of 1,958 square miles (5,070 km2), carving a series of canyons through the western slope of the Sierra. While the upper Tuolumne is a fast-flowing mountain stream, the lower river crosses a broad, fertile and extensively cultivated alluvial plain. Like most other central California rivers, the Tuolumne is dammed multiple times for irrigation and the generation of hydroelectricity.
East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), colloquially referred to as "East Bay Mud", is a public utility district which provides water and sewage treatment services for an area of approximately 331 square miles (860 km2) in the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay. As of 2018, EBMUD provides drinking water for approximately 1.4 million people in portions of Alameda County and Contra Costa County in California, including the cities of Richmond, El Cerrito, Hercules, San Pablo, Pinole, Lafayette, Moraga, Orinda, Danville, Oakland, Piedmont, Emeryville, Berkeley, Albany, Alameda, San Leandro, neighboring unincorporated regions, and portions of cities such as Hayward and San Ramon. Sewage treatment services are provided for 685,000 people in an 88-square-mile area (as of 2018). EBMUD currently has an average annual growth rate of 0.8% and is projected to serve 1.6 million people by 2030. Headquartered in Oakland, EBMUD owns and maintains 2 water storage reservoirs on the Mokelumne River, 5 terminal reservoirs, 91 miles (146 km) of water transmission aqueducts, 4,100 miles (6,600 km) of water mains, 6 water treatment plants (WTPs), 29 miles (47 km) of wastewater interceptor sewer lines and a regional wastewater treatment facility (WWTF) rated at a maximum treatment capacity of 320 MGD.
Sewage disposal regulation and administration describes the governance of sewage treatment and disposal.
Calaveras Reservoir is located primarily in Santa Clara County, California, with a small portion and its dam in Alameda County, California. In Spanish, Calaveras means "skulls".
Don Pedro Reservoir, also known as Lake Don Pedro, is a reservoir formed by the construction of the New Don Pedro Dam across the Tuolumne River in Tuolumne County, California, United States.
The Sunol Water Temple is located at 505 Paloma Way in Sunol, California. Designed by Willis Polk, the 59 foot high classical pavilion is made up of twelve concrete Corinthian columns and a concrete ring girder that supports the conical wood and tile roof. Inside the temple, water originally from the Pleasanton well fields and Arroyo de la Laguna flowed into a white tiled cistern before plunging into a deeper water channel carrying water from the filter galleries to the Niles Aqueduct in Niles Canyon and across San Francisco Bay near the Dumbarton Bridge. The ceiling of the temple has panels with paintings by Yun Gee and other artists depicting a Native American maiden carrying water vessels, and women in classical poses. The temple is open to the public Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Raker Act was an act of the United States Congress that permitted building of the O'Shaughnessy Dam and flooding of Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park, California. It is named for John E. Raker, its chief sponsor. The Act, passed by Congress in 1913 during the Wilson administration, specified that because the source of the water and power was on public land, no private profit could be derived from the development. The plan for damming the valley was fought for years by John Muir. Construction of the dam was finished in 1923.
The Pulgas Water Temple is a stone structure in Redwood City, California, United States, designed by architect William G. Merchant. It was erected by the San Francisco Water Department to commemorate the 1934 completion of the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct and is located at the aqueduct's terminus; originally water flowed through a vault under the temple itself, but new requirements for treatment require it to be diverted to a plant nearby. The name comes from Rancho de las Pulgas, an early Spanish land grant. Pulgas is the Spanish word for "fleas", which were encountered by early Spanish explorers of the area.
Alameda Creek is a large perennial stream in the San Francisco Bay Area. The creek runs for 45 miles (72 km) from a lake northeast of Packard Ridge to the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay by way of Niles Canyon and a flood control channel. Along its course, Alameda Creek provides wildlife habitat, water supply, a conduit for flood waters, opportunities for recreation, and a host of aesthetic and environmental values. The creek and three major reservoirs in the watershed are used as water supply by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Alameda County Water District and Zone 7 Water Agency. Within the watershed can be found some of the highest peaks and tallest waterfall in the East Bay, over a dozen regional parks, and notable natural landmarks such as the cascades at Little Yosemite and the wildflower-strewn grasslands and oak savannahs of the Sunol Regional Wilderness. After an absence of half a century, ocean-run steelhead trout are able to return to Alameda Creek to mingle with remnant rainbow trout populations. Completion of a series of dam removal and fish passage projects, along with improved stream flows for cold-water fish and planned habitat restoration, enable steelhead trout and Chinook salmon to access up to 20 miles (32 km) of spawning and rearing habitat in Alameda Creek and its tributaries. The first juvenile trout migrating downstream from the upper watershed through lower Alameda Creek toward San Francisco Bay was detected and documented in April 2023.
San Antonio Reservoir is located in Alameda County, California, about three miles east-southeast of Sunol. It was built in 1964 by the City and County of San Francisco. Formed by the James H. Turner Dam across San Antonio Creek not far above where it flows into Alameda Creek, its purpose is to store water from the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct and local wells and watersheds. It has a capacity of 50,500 acre-feet (62,300,000 m3).
Sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) is a condition in which untreated sewage is discharged from a sanitary sewer into the environment prior to reaching sewage treatment facilities. When caused by rainfall it is also known as wet weather overflow. Causes of sanitary sewer overflows include: Blockage of sewer lines, infiltration/Inflow of excessive stormwater into sewer lines during heavy rainfall, malfunction of pumping station lifts or electrical power failure, broken sewer lines. Prevention of such overflow events involves regular maintenance and timely upgrades of infrastructure.
The Halifax Regional Water Commission (HRWC), publicly known as Halifax Water, is the municipal water, wastewater and stormwater utility serving the residents of the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), pursuant to the Public Utilities Act. An autonomous, self-financed utility, Halifax Water is a fully metered water utility providing water, fire protection, wastewater and stormwater services as regulated by the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board.
Susan Leal is an American water utility consultant and the co-author of the book Running Out of Water. Formerly, she was the General Manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, San Francisco Treasurer, and a San Francisco supervisor.
Clean Water Services is the water resources management utility for more than 600,000 residents in urban Washington County, Oregon and small portions of Multnomah County, Oregon and Clackamas County, Oregon, in the United States. Clean Water Services operates four wastewater treatment facilities, constructs and maintains flood management and water quality projects, and manages flow into the Tualatin River to improve water quality and protect fish habitat. They are headquartered in Hillsboro.
The Mokelumne Aqueduct is a 95-mile (153 km) water conveyance system in central California, United States. The aqueduct is supplied by the Mokelumne River and provides water to 35 municipalities in the East Bay in the San Francisco Bay Area. The aqueduct and the associated dams, pipelines, treatment plants and hydroelectric system are owned and operated by the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) and provide over 90 percent of the water used by the agency.
Restore Hetch Hetchy is a US non-profit organization seeking to restore the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park to its original condition.
Water supply and sanitation in Istanbul is the responsibility of the public utility ISKI created in 1981.
O'Shaughnessy Dam is a 430-foot (131 m) high concrete arch-gravity dam in Tuolumne County, California, United States. It impounds the Tuolumne River, forming the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir at the lower end of Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park, about 160 miles (260 km) east of San Francisco. The dam and reservoir are the source for the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct, which provides water for over two million people in San Francisco and other municipalities of the west Bay Area. The dam is named for engineer Michael O'Shaughnessy, who oversaw its construction.
Moccasin Dam is a small dam on Moccasin Creek in Tuolumne County, California, in the town of Moccasin, west of Yosemite. It holds the Moccasin Reservoir. The dam, reservoir and associated hydroelectric power plant are part of the Hetch Hetchy Project, which provide water and power to the city of San Francisco. The dam is located near the junction of Highway 120 and Highway 49.
