Nicholas WongMr. KaczorowskiMs. JeongRST 2424/3/22Week 4 Packback DiscussionRegarding the statement that the damming of Hetch-Hetchy was the best decision for theAmerican people based on this week’s learning materials, I agree with it. A lot of controversyand debate This decision brought about much debate and controversy among individualsconcerned between people worried with preserving wilderness in the Yosemite region. Eventhough a lot of environmental damage was caused by building the dam, it also had positivesuggestions for the San Francisco region. There was a universal worry regarding water levels inSan Francisco "an earthquake and fire devastated San Francisco and added urgency and publicsympathy to the search for an adequate water supply" (Nash, 2014, 161). This issue was solvedby the Hetch-Hetchy and also permitted more national attention towards the Yosemite park.There were basically two groups of people debating for differing purposes of nature.Conservationists thought of using the environment in a method to improve society. John Muirwas concerned with conserving nature as it is. He thought nature should be preserved as it wasformed, and respected in that aspect. Muir was part of the other group of people, preservationists.To preserve nature, Muir used public expression, "The defenders of wildernessdiscovered their political muscles and how to flex them by arousing an expression of the publicopinion". Preservationists lost the battle over the Hetch-Hetchy, despite Muir’s efforts. However,this decision had to be made. In San Francisco, there was a clear problem and at the time, it wasnoticeable that damming the Hetch-Hetchy was the only logical option, "Hetch-Hetchy was theonly practical solution to San Francisco's problem" (Nash, 2014, 163). It can be seen how amajor source of clean fresh water for San Francisco is the Hetch-Hetchy. The Hetch-Hetchy alsohas a significant objective of providing hydroelectricity, which benefits the environment andsupplies clean energy. Therefore, despite the arguments and conflicts from the problem, I thinkthe Hetch-Hetchy was a good decision for Americans.Reply Post To Meena Deshpande:Hi Meena,Regarding your stance on the topic of Hetch-Hetchy, I also think damming Hetch-Hetchywas an excellent option for Americans and benefited them. Arguing that Americans needed thewater for San Francisco seemed like a very strong claim to me, as at that point, Americans didnot have many options left. It would have been tough for San Francisco to recover if they did notuse the water from the dam since it would have caused significant problems.A weak argument I thought you had was your claim regarding how transformingHetch-Hetchy to a dam would form scenic routes that Americans could enjoy. Sincepreservationists were already able to enjoy the Valley’s natural beauty, they were angered by thatclaim, and the idea of enjoying the natural world would be ruined by turning it into a man-madelake, according to Nash (2014).However, someone could easily argue that the reason Americans started to change theirviews regarding nature would not be Hetch-Hetchy, but would instead be the construction ofanother national park like Yosemite National Park. Americans could be argued to appreciatenature, regardless of damming Hetch-Hetchy, because there was other preserved land in theUnited States. Overall, your post does a pretty good job of addressing the question you came upwith.Nicholas
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