I'm not sure why this topic has made headline news in the Examiner and some other publications, but draining Hetch Hetchy is a bad idea.
It's estimated to cost $3-$10 billion dollars to blow up the dam and restore the Valley. Our state has enough financial problems without incurring additional costs.
This is not to mention where in the world are 2.5 million Bay Area residents (mostly San Franciscans) will get their water from?
Removing the dam will create a huge liability for future droughts, increases filtering costs, a decrease in hydro power generation (keeping SF off the "fossil fuel grid"), and the environmental costs of opening the valley to tourists (who leave garbage and waste like those in Yosemite do!).
The draining of the dam is nothing but a money hole and provides absolutely no benefits to the general.
I believe it's likely a pipe dream of the Sierra Club and the affiliated non-profit groups trying to restore the valley and drain the dam, but I felt the topic should be addressed from another perspective on a patch blog. The costs associated and pain the general public will incur as a result of this action is too great to even consider trying.
What are you feelings and comments?
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