WASHINGTON--In a letter sent last week, Rep. George Radanovich encouraged House Appropriations Committee leaders to cut from next year’s budget proposal $7 million to study the benefits of removing the Hetch Hetchy water reservoir.

Since 2003, four separate studies have addressed the feasibility of removing the O’Shaughnessy Dam and returning the Hetch Hetchy valley to its original condition. Located inside Yosemite National Park, the reservoir created by the dam generates electricity and has served as San Francisco’s water supply since it was completed in 1923.

Environmentalists argue that national parks should be kept in or returned to their original conditions, although there is disagreement among them as to the need for further study of Hetch Hetchy.

But with water storage at a premium in California, Radanovich said he cannot support any project that would remove above ground water storage

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recommended the federal government study the situation further, as proposed in the most recent study by the California Department of Resources last summer showing the restoration is feasible. President Bush then added the study to his proposed budget for next year.

“It hasn’t been studied enough in depth, and the president is saying that there are data gaps,” said Ron Good, executive director of Restore Hetch Hetchy, a nonprofit group. “There are a lot of things we don’t know.”

The earlier studies produced widely different price tags for the full restoration project, ranging from $1 billion to $10 billion, Good said. A new federal study would likely produce a more accurate cost estimate, he said.

But the new study being proposed fails to address unanswered questions because its focus is on feasibility rather than water storage and retention, power generation or dam removal, Radanovich wrote in his letter to the chairman and top Republican of Appropriations’ environment subcommittee, which is still determining what will be included on next year’s budget.  

“Draining a reservoir that produces 1.7 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually and is the water source for over 2.4 million people is irresponsible,” Radanovich’s letter said.

Although the Republican congressman’s stance is typically in line with the Bush administration’s priorities, opposing this study is too minor an issue to make political waves, said Spencer Pederson, an aide to the lawmaker.

In a separate letter written by Radanovich to a constituent in 2003, the congressman said he would “consider supporting such an effort if significant gains in water storage yield were made in other areas of the state.”

The studies completed since then, Pederson said, were conclusive enough for Radanovich to oppose further study. Instead, Radanovich proposed having the $7 million spent on other budgetary needs of the National Parks.

“I think the people who are opposing studying it are afraid of the results,” Good said. “They’re afraid that we’ll find out it can be done.”

Not so, said one environmental group that questioned the need for further study of Hetch Hetchy.

“Is this the best place for limited federal dollars to be spent, or could those dollars be better applied to protecting threatened species, restoring polluted watersheds or protecting other public resources?” said John Buckley, director of the Central Sierra Environmental Resource Council.

But Good said it’s all about compromise.

“We’re looking for a win-win outcome,” Good said. “We want to make sure the San Francisco folks retain a very high-quality water system. …We’re just talking about letting the water be stored in a different place outside a national park, and that can be done.”