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San
Francisco and the Hetch Hetchy reservoir. Hearing held before the
committee on the Public Lands of the House of Representatives, December
16, 1908, on House Joint Resolution 184 - Part II.
PETITION
OF MARSDEN MANSON, CITY ENGINEER OF SAN FRANCISCO, ON BEHALF OF THE
CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO, TO THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D. C., TO REOPEN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION
OF JAMES D. PHELAN FOR RESERVOIR RIGHTS OF WAY IN THE HETCH HETCHY
VALLEY AND LAKE ELEANOR SITES IN THE YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK.
Washington, D. C., May 7, 1908.
The honorable Secretary of the Interior.
Sir: On behalf of the city and county of San Francisco, I
respectfully petition you to exercise your supervisory authority and
reopen the matter of the application of James D. Phelan for reservoir
rights of way in the Hetch Hetchy Valley and Lake Eleanor sites in
the Yosemite National Park. This application was made October 15,
1901, by James D. Phelan, then mayor, in conjunction with an effort
that was being made to secure an adequate and pure supply of water
for the city and county of San Francisco, and was assigned to said
city and county February 20, 1903, in order to carry out the original
intent in making the application and that the city might be of record
as the successor to any rights that may have been gained by the application.
Subsequently, on December 22, 1903, the application was rejected on
the ground that the Secretary of the Interior did not have power to
allow such right of way within the Yosemite National Park. Thereafter
I, as the representative of the said city and county, came to Washington
and asked for a reconsideration of the matter. This reconsideration
was granted in the form of a request for an opinion from the Attorney-General
concerning the Secretary's contention that he did not have the power.
The Attorney-General held that the Secretary of the Interior had full
power, and that it was merely a matter of administrative judgment
as to whether the application for rights of way should or should not
be granted.
I was of the opinion that the steps taken by the city and
county of San Francisco, through me, to have this matter reconsidered
was a formal action which kept the application alive, but it seems
that,k according to the technical and strict interpretation of the
rules of practice of the Department of the Interior, my supposition
was incorrect and that the maps of location were formally rejected
and returned to the city and county, where they remained and were
destroyed by fire following the earthquake in April, 1906. I learned
recently that the case was technically closed, but I find that the
practice of your department will permit, through the exercise of supervisory
authority, the curing of a technical action made final through mistake
of an applicant, especially when great public interests and equities
are involved.
I caused exact retracements of certified copies of the original
maps of location to be made and Mr. Phelan filed them in your department
in 1907. As the city engineer, directly in charge of these matters,
I have certified that they are exact reproductions made under my personal
direction of the original maps of location. I therefore ask that you
treat them as though they were originals, and in view of all the circumstances
mentioned above, the great needs of the city of San Francisco for
an adequate and pure water supply, and the fact that I have been authorized
to act for the city in this matter by a resolution of the board of
supervisors (a certified copy of which resolution I will obtain from
San Francisco at the earliest practicable moment and file with this
petition), urge that you treat the application of James D. Phelan,
afterwards assigned to the city of San Francisco, as though it had
never technically lapsed.
As the engineer of the city, I have gathered from years of
careful and scientific study of the sites themselves information concerning
the capacity of the sites applied for and the tributary drainage areas,
and I am confident that the city could not afford to develop the Lake
Eleanor site alone without every assurance possible to be given by
the Government that the Hetch Hetchy site will be available as soon
as the needs of the city exceed the Lake Eleanor storage capacity.
For that reason I urge that the right to use both sites be now granted
in order that the city may proceed in its work with a degree of security.
If the application for both reservoir sites is granted, I
offer and agree on behalf of the city that its application for the
two reservoir sites may be approved upon the basis of the following
conditions which will be furnished if you desire, in the form of a
stipulation, approved by resolution of the board of supervisors, and
duly executed under the seal of the city of San Francisco.
The city and county of San Francisco will agree to the following
stipulations:
1. The city of San Francisco practically owns all the patented
land in the floor of the Hetch Hetchy reservoir site and sufficient
adjacent areas in the Yosemite National Park and the Sierra National
Forest to equal the remainder of that reservoir area. The city will
surrender to the United States equivalent areas outside of the reservoir
sites and within the national park and adjacent reserves in exchange
for the remaining land in the reservoir sites, for which authority
from Congress will be obtained if necessary.
2. The city and county of San Francisco distinctly understands
and agrees that all the rules and regulations for the government of
the park, now or hereafter in force, shall be applicable to its holdings
within the park and that, except to the extent that the necessary
use of its holdings for the exclusive purpose of storing and protecting
water for the uses herein specified will be interfered with, the public
may have the full enjoyment thereof, under regulations fixed by the
Secretary of the Interior.
3. The city and county of San Francisco will develop the Lake
Eleanor site to its full capacity before beginning the development
of the Hetch Hetchy site, and the development of the latter will be
begun only when the needs of the city and county of San Francisco
and adjacent cities, which may join with it in obtaining a common
water supply, may require such further development. As the drainage
area tributary to Lake Eleanor will not yield, under the conditions
herein imposed, sufficient run-off in dry years to replenish the reservoir,
a diverting dam and canal from Cherry Creek to Lake Eleanor reservoir
for the conduct of waste, flood, or extra-seasonal waters to said
reservoir is essential for the development of the site to its full
capacity, and will be constructed if permission is given by the Secretary
of the Interior.
4. The city and county of San Francisco, and any other city
or cities which may, with the approval of the municipal authorities,
join with said city and county of San Francisco in obtaining a common
water supply, will not interfere in the slightest particular with
the right of the Modesto irrigation district and the Turlock irrigation
district to use the natural flow of the Tuolumne River and its branches
to the full extent of their claims, as follows: Turlock irrigation
district, 1,500 second-feet; Modesto irrigation district, 850 second-feet;
these districts having, respectively, appropriated the foregoing amounts
of water under the laws of the State of California.
To the end that these rights may be fully protected, San Francisco
will stipulate not to store nor cause to be stored, divert nor cause
to be diverted from the Tuolumne River or any of its branches any
of the natural flow of said river when desired for use by said districts,
for any beneficial purpose, unless this natural flow of the river
and tributaries above La Grange dam be in excess of the actual capacities
of the canals of said districts, even when they shall have been brought
up to the full volumes named-1,500 second-feet for the Turlock irrigation
district and 850 second-feet for the Modesto irrigation district.
5. The city and county of San Francisco will in no way interfere
with the storage of flood waters in sites other than Hetch Hetchy
and Lake Eleanor by the Modesto and Turlock irrigation districts or
either of said districts for use in said districts, and will return
to the Tuolumne River above the La Grange dam, for the use of said
irrigation districts, all surplus or waste flow of the river which
may be used for power.
6. The city of San Francisco will, upon request, sell to said
Modesto and Turlock irrigation districts for the use of any land owner
or owners therein for pumping subsurface water for drainage or irrigation
any excess of electric power which may be generated such as may not
be used for the water supply herein provided and for the actual municipal
purposes of the city and county of San Francisco (which purposes shall
not include sale to private persons nor to corporations), at such
price as will actually reimburse the said city and county for developing
and transmitting the surplus electrical energy thus sold, the price
in case of dispute to be fixed by the Secretary of the Interior; and
no power plant shall be interposed on the line of flow except by the
said city and county except for the purposes and under the limitations
above set forth.
7. The city and county of San Francisco will agree that the
Secretary of the Interior shall, at his discretion, or when called
upon by either the city or the districts to do so, direct the apportionment
and measurement of the water in accordance with the terms of the preceding
clauses of this stipulation.
8. The city and county of San Francisco, when it begins the
development of the Hetch Hetchy site, will undertake and vigorously
prosecute to completion a dam at least 150 feet high, with a foundation
capable of supporting the dam when built to its greatest economic
and safe height, and whenever, in the opinion of the engineer in charge
of the reservoirs on behalf of said city and county and of the municipalities
sharing in this supply, the volume of water on storage in the reservoirs
herein applied for is in excess of the seasonal requirements of said
municipalities, and that it is safe to do so, that such excess will
be liberated at such times and in such amounts as said districts may
designate, at a price to said districts not to exceed the proportionate
cost of storage and sinking fund chargeable to the volumes thus liberated,
the price in case of dispute to be fixed by the Secretary of the Interior;
provided, that no prescriptive or other right shall ever inure or
attach to said districts by user or otherwise to the water thus liberated.
9. The city and county of San Francisco will, within two years
after the grant by the Secretary of the Interior of the rights hereby
applied for, submit the question of said water supply to the vote
of its citizens as required by its charter, and within three years
thereafter, if such vote be affirmative, will commence the actual
construction of the Lake Eleanor dam and will carry the same to completion
with all diligence, so that said reservoir may be completed within
five years after the commencement thereof, unless such times herein
before specified shall be extended by the Secretary of the Interior
for cause shown by the city, or the construction delayed by litigation;
and unless the construction of said reservoir is authorized by a vote
of the said city and county and said work is commenced, carried on,
and completed within the times herein specified, all rights granted
hereunder shall revert to the Government.
Marsden Manson
San Francisco and the Hetch Hetchy reservoir. Hearing held before the committee on the Public Lands of the House of Representatives, December 16, 1908, on House Joint Resolution 184 - Part II.
PETITION OF MARSDEN MANSON, CITY ENGINEER OF SAN FRANCISCO, ON BEHALF OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO, TO THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON, D. C., TO REOPEN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION OF JAMES D. PHELAN FOR RESERVOIR RIGHTS OF WAY IN THE HETCH HETCHY VALLEY AND LAKE ELEANOR SITES IN THE YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK.
Washington, D. C., May 7, 1908.
The honorable Secretary of the Interior.
Sir: On behalf of the city and county of San Francisco, I respectfully petition you to exercise your supervisory authority and reopen the matter of the application of James D. Phelan for reservoir rights of way in the Hetch Hetchy Valley and Lake Eleanor sites in the Yosemite National Park. This application was made October 15, 1901, by James D. Phelan, then mayor, in conjunction with an effort that was being made to secure an adequate and pure supply of water for the city and county of San Francisco, and was assigned to said city and county February 20, 1903, in order to carry out the original intent in making the application and that the city might be of record as the successor to any rights that may have been gained by the application. Subsequently, on December 22, 1903, the application was rejected on the ground that the Secretary of the Interior did not have power to allow such right of way within the Yosemite National Park. Thereafter I, as the representative of the said city and county, came to Washington and asked for a reconsideration of the matter. This reconsideration was granted in the form of a request for an opinion from the Attorney-General concerning the Secretary's contention that he did not have the power. The Attorney-General held that the Secretary of the Interior had full power, and that it was merely a matter of administrative judgment as to whether the application for rights of way should or should not be granted.
I was of the opinion that the steps taken by the city and county of San Francisco, through me, to have this matter reconsidered was a formal action which kept the application alive, but it seems that,k according to the technical and strict interpretation of the rules of practice of the Department of the Interior, my supposition was incorrect and that the maps of location were formally rejected and returned to the city and county, where they remained and were destroyed by fire following the earthquake in April, 1906. I learned recently that the case was technically closed, but I find that the practice of your department will permit, through the exercise of supervisory authority, the curing of a technical action made final through mistake of an applicant, especially when great public interests and equities are involved.
I caused exact retracements of certified copies of the original maps of location to be made and Mr. Phelan filed them in your department in 1907. As the city engineer, directly in charge of these matters, I have certified that they are exact reproductions made under my personal direction of the original maps of location. I therefore ask that you treat them as though they were originals, and in view of all the circumstances mentioned above, the great needs of the city of San Francisco for an adequate and pure water supply, and the fact that I have been authorized to act for the city in this matter by a resolution of the board of supervisors (a certified copy of which resolution I will obtain from San Francisco at the earliest practicable moment and file with this petition), urge that you treat the application of James D. Phelan, afterwards assigned to the city of San Francisco, as though it had never technically lapsed.
As the engineer of the city, I have gathered from years of careful and scientific study of the sites themselves information concerning the capacity of the sites applied for and the tributary drainage areas, and I am confident that the city could not afford to develop the Lake Eleanor site alone without every assurance possible to be given by the Government that the Hetch Hetchy site will be available as soon as the needs of the city exceed the Lake Eleanor storage capacity. For that reason I urge that the right to use both sites be now granted in order that the city may proceed in its work with a degree of security.
If the application for both reservoir sites is granted, I offer and agree on behalf of the city that its application for the two reservoir sites may be approved upon the basis of the following conditions which will be furnished if you desire, in the form of a stipulation, approved by resolution of the board of supervisors, and duly executed under the seal of the city of San Francisco.
The city and county of San Francisco will agree to the following stipulations:
1. The city of San Francisco practically owns all the patented land in the floor of the Hetch Hetchy reservoir site and sufficient adjacent areas in the Yosemite National Park and the Sierra National Forest to equal the remainder of that reservoir area. The city will surrender to the United States equivalent areas outside of the reservoir sites and within the national park and adjacent reserves in exchange for the remaining land in the reservoir sites, for which authority from Congress will be obtained if necessary.
2. The city and county of San Francisco distinctly understands and agrees that all the rules and regulations for the government of the park, now or hereafter in force, shall be applicable to its holdings within the park and that, except to the extent that the necessary use of its holdings for the exclusive purpose of storing and protecting water for the uses herein specified will be interfered with, the public may have the full enjoyment thereof, under regulations fixed by the Secretary of the Interior.
3. The city and county of San Francisco will develop the Lake Eleanor site to its full capacity before beginning the development of the Hetch Hetchy site, and the development of the latter will be begun only when the needs of the city and county of San Francisco and adjacent cities, which may join with it in obtaining a common water supply, may require such further development. As the drainage area tributary to Lake Eleanor will not yield, under the conditions herein imposed, sufficient run-off in dry years to replenish the reservoir, a diverting dam and canal from Cherry Creek to Lake Eleanor reservoir for the conduct of waste, flood, or extra-seasonal waters to said reservoir is essential for the development of the site to its full capacity, and will be constructed if permission is given by the Secretary of the Interior.
4. The city and county of San Francisco, and any other city or cities which may, with the approval of the municipal authorities, join with said city and county of San Francisco in obtaining a common water supply, will not interfere in the slightest particular with the right of the Modesto irrigation district and the Turlock irrigation district to use the natural flow of the Tuolumne River and its branches to the full extent of their claims, as follows: Turlock irrigation district, 1,500 second-feet; Modesto irrigation district, 850 second-feet; these districts having, respectively, appropriated the foregoing amounts of water under the laws of the State of California.
To the end that these rights may be fully protected, San Francisco will stipulate not to store nor cause to be stored, divert nor cause to be diverted from the Tuolumne River or any of its branches any of the natural flow of said river when desired for use by said districts, for any beneficial purpose, unless this natural flow of the river and tributaries above La Grange dam be in excess of the actual capacities of the canals of said districts, even when they shall have been brought up to the full volumes named-1,500 second-feet for the Turlock irrigation district and 850 second-feet for the Modesto irrigation district.
5. The city and county of San Francisco will in no way interfere with the storage of flood waters in sites other than Hetch Hetchy and Lake Eleanor by the Modesto and Turlock irrigation districts or either of said districts for use in said districts, and will return to the Tuolumne River above the La Grange dam, for the use of said irrigation districts, all surplus or waste flow of the river which may be used for power.
6. The city of San Francisco will, upon request, sell to said Modesto and Turlock irrigation districts for the use of any land owner or owners therein for pumping subsurface water for drainage or irrigation any excess of electric power which may be generated such as may not be used for the water supply herein provided and for the actual municipal purposes of the city and county of San Francisco (which purposes shall not include sale to private persons nor to corporations), at such price as will actually reimburse the said city and county for developing and transmitting the surplus electrical energy thus sold, the price in case of dispute to be fixed by the Secretary of the Interior; and no power plant shall be interposed on the line of flow except by the said city and county except for the purposes and under the limitations above set forth.
7. The city and county of San Francisco will agree that the Secretary of the Interior shall, at his discretion, or when called upon by either the city or the districts to do so, direct the apportionment and measurement of the water in accordance with the terms of the preceding clauses of this stipulation.
8. The city and county of San Francisco, when it begins the development of the Hetch Hetchy site, will undertake and vigorously prosecute to completion a dam at least 150 feet high, with a foundation capable of supporting the dam when built to its greatest economic and safe height, and whenever, in the opinion of the engineer in charge of the reservoirs on behalf of said city and county and of the municipalities sharing in this supply, the volume of water on storage in the reservoirs herein applied for is in excess of the seasonal requirements of said municipalities, and that it is safe to do so, that such excess will be liberated at such times and in such amounts as said districts may designate, at a price to said districts not to exceed the proportionate cost of storage and sinking fund chargeable to the volumes thus liberated, the price in case of dispute to be fixed by the Secretary of the Interior; provided, that no prescriptive or other right shall ever inure or attach to said districts by user or otherwise to the water thus liberated.
9. The city and county of San Francisco will, within two years after the grant by the Secretary of the Interior of the rights hereby applied for, submit the question of said water supply to the vote of its citizens as required by its charter, and within three years thereafter, if such vote be affirmative, will commence the actual construction of the Lake Eleanor dam and will carry the same to completion with all diligence, so that said reservoir may be completed within five years after the commencement thereof, unless such times herein before specified shall be extended by the Secretary of the Interior for cause shown by the city, or the construction delayed by litigation; and unless the construction of said reservoir is authorized by a vote of the said city and county and said work is commenced, carried on, and completed within the times herein specified, all rights granted hereunder shall revert to the Government.
Marsden Manson