Environmental Groups File Suit Against San Francisco Challenging Hetch Hetchy Reservoir

June 2015

California Water Law & Policy Reporter, Volume 25, Number 9

Restore Hetch Hetchy (Restore) has filed suit asserting that maintaining and operating the O’Shaughnessy Dam and Hetch Hetchy Reservoir (Hetch Hetchy) is an unreasonable method of diverting water from the Tuolumne River in violation of Article X, § 2 of California’s Constitution. Restore asserts there are feasible alternatives to the continued operation of Hetch Hetchy, and further claims the costs of dismantling Hetch Hetchy, developing alternative water supplies, and replacing lost power generation are reasonable when weighed against the claimed benefits of removing Hetch Hetchy. [See, Restore Hetch Hetchy v. City and County of San Francisco, Tuolumne Superior Court]

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