Hetch-Hetchy restoration "feasible" but fabulously expensive

From the Fresno Bee, via today's BC news:

Environmentalists heard exactly what they wanted to hear in the Department of Water Resources' study on draining Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park: The project is feasible.

Those opposed to poking a hole in O'Shaughnessy Dam heard exactly what they wanted: The project could cost up to $10 billion, an incredible figure.

In other words, the long-awaited DWR report hardly moved the debate forward. That's not to dismiss the report; it just means that those inclined to debate this daydream now have vaguely better numbers to bolster their arguments.

Those arguments resumed in press releases even before last Wednesday's report was released. A chief proponent of the plan, Environmental Defense, crowed that the Schwarzenegger administration had determined "it is feasible to restore Hetch Hetchy."

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who has called water from Hetch Hetchy every San Franciscan's birthright, said the study proves that the cost of draining Hetch Hetchy is "indefensible, particularly given the tremendous infrastructure needs facing our state." Hetch Hetchy is hardly a birthright, but Feinstein is correct that draining it would be very costly.

The report's authors made no recommendation, and emphatically pointed out that every aspect of the report suffered from too little concrete information. To get better information, DWR's chief hydrologist, Gary Bardini, estimated a more complete study would cost about $65 million. There was no mention of who would pay.