The Raker Act was an act of the United States Congress that permitted building of the O'Shaughnessy Dam and flooding of Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park, California. It is named for John E. Raker, its chief sponsor. The Act, passed by Congress in 1913 by the Wilson Administration, specified that because the source of the water and power was on public land, no private profit could be derived from the development. The plan for damming the valley was fought for years by John Muir. Construction of the dam was finished in 1923. There have been ongoing allegations that the Act is being breached by private profits being made; and there have also been several campaigns aimed at removing the dam and restoring the valley. History The Raker Act may be said to have its roots in an 1882 proposal by the San Francisco and Tuolumne Water Company of Sonora. This water company had proposed carrying Tuolumne River water to San Francisco from Jacksonville (a community flooded nearly a century later by the construction of New Don Pedro Reservoir). At this time the rapid growth of the city of San Francisco was in danger of being limited by a lack of access to plentiful, reliable water supplies. The city needed a way to meet municipal water needs at a reasonable cost. The city also wanted to escape the monopoly held by the Spring Valley Water Company. The politicians in San Francisco came up with the idea to use the watershed in the Hetch Hetchy Valley to supply their water needs and break the monopoly. This area was felt by proponents to be ideal for the creation of a reservoir because of its relative proximity to the city and its ample supply of water from the snows stored in the high mountains of the Sierra Nevada. The construction of a hydroelectric dam would also supply the city with much needed power. A major issue with converting the Hetch Hetchy Valley into a municipally owned reservoir was the fact that it was within the borders of the newly formed Yosemite National Park. Mayor James Phelan sent a request to Congress to have the land within the Hetch Hetchy available for purchase, which resulted in the 1901 Right of Way Act, which allowed the Secretary of the Interior to grant rights to governments to reserve public lands containing possible water supplies as