Hetch Hetchy

A workshop in Sacramento Thursday discussed the prospects for restoring the Hetch Hetchy Valley as part of a study launched last fall by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Environmental Economics blog looks at the costs and benefits of removing the dam that floods the valley as part of their topic on cost/benefit analysis. The benefits of the current dam in the valley go entirely to San Francisco. The benefits of restoring the valley would go to tourists throughout the country and the world. San Francisco, predictably, takes the non-green position on dam removal.

The best information on the reclamation proposal comes from the the Sacramento Bee's Pulitzer prize winning editorial series on Hetch Hetchy.