Put demolition on San Francisco’s tab

Re “Hetch Hetchy restoration is a pricey pipe dream,” column, Nov. 30

All the reasons that George Skelton presented to argue that the O’Shaughnessy Dam will not be removed and Hetch Hetchy restored were made (and quickly dismissed as irrelevant) when the issue was the restoration of Mono or Owens lakes. Well, every argument except one: There was never a question about who would pay to restore the flow into Mono Lake. It was always Los Angeles and never the California or U.S. taxpayers. Why is this a question regarding O’Shaughnessy Dam? San Francisco built it, San Francisco should remove it. Period.

The only study required is one paid for by San Francisco about why it should be allowed to continue profiting from its destruction of a scenic wonder.

Skelton, while he does not say it, argues forcefully for my contention that if San Francisco had developed the tributaries feeding Mono Lake and Los Angeles had developed the Tuolumne River (which flows through Hetch Hetchy), today neither the Mono Lake basin nor Hetch Hetchy would contain a lake. One would be a free-flowing river, the other a dry basin.

KEITH PRICE

Los Angeles