Hetch Hetchy Reservoir
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| Hetch Hetchy Reservoir | |
|---|---|
| Location | Yosemite National Park, California |
| Coordinates | |
| Lake type | reservoir |
| Primary inflows | Tuolumne River |
| Primary outflows | Tuolumne River |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Water volume | 360,000 acre-feet |
| Surface elevation | 3,783 ft (1,153 m) |
Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is a reservoir in Yosemite National Park, about 65 miles (105 km) northeast from the city of Merced, California. The reservoir has a capacity of 360,000 acre feet (440,000,000 m³) and is formed by O'Shaughnessy Dam in Hetch Hetchy Valley on the Tuolumne River. The dam is a concrete gravity feeding and is 364 feet (111 m) high. It was completed in 1923 and is owned by the city of San Francisco. The primary purpose is to supply drinking water to the San Francisco Bay Area, where it provides 85% of San Francisco's total water needs[1]. The water is transported from the reservoir by the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct. Hydroelectricity is also produced by Kirkwood Powerhouse and Moccasin Powerhouse, which have a capacity of 118 and 100 MW, respectively. Because Hetch Hetchy is a municipal water supply and its water is not filtered, swimming and boating are prohibited. Fishing is allowed, but only from the shore.
