PrintEsthetic Improvements
Arguments have also presented for esthetic improvements as the result of dam removal. An example of this approach is the argument for the removal of Hetch Hetchy (O'Shaughnessy) Dam on the Tuolomne River in the Sierra Nevada Mts. of California (Restore Hetch Hetchy). This dam and its reservoir flooded a canyon much like Yosemite just to its south beginning in 1923, even though Hetch Hetchy was included in Yosemite National Park in 1890 by President W.H. Harrison. President Wilson, in 1913, signed the Raker Act that allowed San Francisco to dam the valley. Proponents of this dam removal argue for ecological improvements as well as access to once-spectacular scenery eliminated as the result of the water project. Hetch Hetchy provides some 20 percent of hydroelectric power generation to San Francisco as well as significant water supplies. Nonetheless, proponents of the dam removal argue that impacts on water or electrical power availability would be minor (Hetch Hetchy Today).