Chapter 8, Appalachia and the Ozarks

Unlike the Appalachia and the Ozarks that we learned about in Chapter 8, the San Francisco, Bay Area does not compare to the forestry and rugged terrain that stretches well over 2000 miles in length.  Muir Woods National Monument is what I would consider the little preserved forest of the Bay Area.  Located in Mill Valley, CA (14 miles north of San Francisco; Marin County) Muir Woods is home to 240 acres of Redwood trees.
   Scale of  Redwood trees compared to man, www.renamae.com

  In the forest it is so serene and peaceful you would never know that San Francisco is only 14 miles away, www.danheller.com

In Chapter 8, it also talked about the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).  It was to develop the Tennessee River for navigation, and to do that a barge channel was built in the river, and constructing dams for stream flow.  Today, the TVA controls 45 dams (including 29 hydroelectric dams).  This reduced flooding and provided electricity across the region.  How does this apply to San Francisco?  Well, it doesn't, and the city does not have anything in comparison to the TVA.  But what it does have is the Calaveres Dam, located at the Alameda-Santa Clara County line.  The dam is a 230 foot high barrier which holds the largest drinking water reservoir in the 9 county region.  Since its location is on an active fault zone, dam regulators drained the reservoir to about a third of its capacity.  The Calaveras reservoir sits in the Alameda Creek watershed, which drains most of the southern sections of the East Bay, including the southern slopes of Mount Diablo.  "More than 80% of the water used in the bay Area comes from Hetch Hetchy on Tuolomne River in Yosemite "(www.sfgate.com, January 28, 2011).  
  www.aquafornia.com, pic of the Calaveras Dam

Other dams in the area are the Almaden Dam, Leroy Anderson Dam, Calero Dam, Elmer Chesbro Dam, Coyote Dam, Guadalupe Dam, Peters Dam, Monticello Dam, Del Valle Dam, Conn Creek Dam, Water Springs Dam, James Lenihan Dam, Los Vaqueros Dam, James Turner Dam, Santa Rosa Creek Dam, Stevens Creek Dam, Uvas Dam, and Vasona Dam.