The federal government ended the dispute in 1913, with the passage of the Raker Act, which permitted flooding of the valley.

With the passage of the Raker Act in 1913, San Francisco began to plan to tap the Tuolumne River watershed for water and power.

Work on the Hetch Hetchy project began in early 1914 shortly after the passage of the Raker Act.

The fee was established by the Raker Act, which was supported by influential San Francisco civic leaders but opposed by early environmentalists.

The Raker Act "made some people within the city enormously wealthy," said Gray Brechin, a geography professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

Whether or not the Raker Act is indeed being violated is still a matter of controversy.

Harold Ickes of the Roosevelt Interior Department tried for many years to enforce the Raker Act, but he was unsuccessful.

Roosevelt's successor, Woodrow Wilson, signed the Raker Act into law on December 13, 1913, which authorized construction of the dam.

Shortly before Muir died he expressed the hope that "some compensating good must follow" from the Raker Act.

This he believe would violate the Raker Act, which states that the river can be dammed as long as the water in the reservoir is not exploited.