New Britain herald., 1924-01-24
FRISCO RESERVOIRS
 l56 MILES AWAY
About M,000,O00 Gallons of Water Flows Into City Daily

bdu ' FfdlNiSSo, idH. -. Ndlct
 from the Hetch Hetchy source, in the
 high Sierra Nevada mountains oi
 California, will flow 15s miles b, gravity into the reservoirs of Sar
 Francisco within about four years, ac-
 cording to present plans. The enor.
 nous Hetch Hetehy project involy.
 ing in all its phases something like
 s2oo. ,ooo, is nearing completion
 though a vast amount of work still
 remains to be done.
 The latest economic problem in con-
 nection with the Heteh Hstchy found
 expression In a request by the San
 Francisco board of supervisors to the
 state railroad commission to appraisc and fix the value of two private
 power distributing systems now oper.
 ating in the city. Tn obtaining the
 water supply from the mountains the
 city developed, almost as by-pro-
 duct, electrical energy which, though
 incomplete, can be wholesalci within a year to distributing companies for approximately s2,ooo.oo0 annually.
 A faction of citizens, however, is urg-
 ing the city not to dispose of this
 power, but instead to go into tho
 power business by purchasing the ex-
 isting distributing systems and selling
 light and power to the people direct ly. Other residents are opposing such a municipal business.
 When completed the Hetch Hetchy
 supply will give San Francisco and adjoining communities 100000, 900 gallons of pure mountain water daily. a generous supply for community of 4,0oo,ooo inhabitants. Hetch Hetchy also will be capable of generating more than a billion. .kilowatt hours of electrical power annually. The city now uses about 37o,ooo,ooo kilowatt hours.
 The efforts to secure Hetch Hetchy water date back 10 1901. There was considerable opposition in the begin- ming. and the contest was carried through three national administra- tions. Finally s bill, giving the city ell 1t had asked for, was signed in 1918, and work was started in 1914.
 One Of the first steps taken by the city after obtaining the site was the construction of 3 standard gauge raii- read 6S miles long to haul supplies. cement and materials. At the east end Of the railroad now stands o'Shauehnessy dam. which turned the valley behind it into a beautiful lake seven miles long. It cost se,647,- s56.54. It was built to last 20 cen- ttiries and is a monument to City. .f.n- gineer M. NJ. O'Shaughnessy, Whose withdrawal from a position paying him sS5.oo0 a year to carry through the Hetch Hetchy project for San Francisco at a salary of sl5,00o lends a touch of sentiment to a matter made up otherwise of engineering and financing. The reservoir befiaI the dam will hold 67 billion gallons. the largest capacity or any city west of Chicago.
 Hetch Hetchy valley is at an e.eva- tion of $500 feet above sea level. Be. fore it was flooded it's floor was cleared of timber. The reservoir area covers 1.500 acres. with a drainage area Of 2s4.00e acres. By wagon road 1s miles above Hetch Hetchy is Lake Eleanor. another reservoir holding nine billion gallons of water.
 The water. after being used in two power plants. will pass into a tunnel. already completed. Je3 miles long and ranging in size from 13 feet { inches by 13 feet inches to 10 feet 3 inches by 10 feet inches. The tunnel cost sS.000,000. Below this tunnel will be Priest dam and the res- eryoir for the great Mocassin Creek 1 power plant. which, when completed next June. will be able 10 produce 1 400. .000.06o kiiovatt hours of ciec- l tricity annually. eaualling the present 1 total supply of san Francisco. TEu yerticle drop of water for this plant { will he 1915 feet.
 Ultimately the city Eil furnish 1 geO.0 .0ee hydro-electric orse-powcr I from the Hetch Hetchy system.
 To bring Hctch Hetcny Natsis to I Inc door of San Francisco will require | sT miles Of tunnels. 10 feet : inches l Ia diameter, and ss miles Of large l steel pipe fumevar. The entire . squeduct will be thus encIosed. There . afll be no pumping, all the water I Lowing by gravity. The salt aiarsh- I ss on San Francisco bay viii ba ! crossed on tresties. and tunnel will | be built under the bay channel.
 The city controls for the proleet i l2O.Oo0 acres Of watersheds, has I bought 4.7e6 acres for reservoir sites md other purposes and acquired i more than 15o miles Of railroad right ,f-way.
 To carry on the Hork 1t vas neces- iary to build . small city in the | mountains. including an nffire buiid- nr. hospital. railroad shops. uare-