Lake Berryessa

thumb|Aerial view of Lake Berryessa, looking west into the evening sun

Lake Berryessa is the largest lake in Napa County, California, United States. This reservoir in the Vaca Mountains was formed following the construction of the Monticello Dam on Putah Creek in the 1950s. Since the early 1960s, this reservoir has provided water and hydroelectricity to the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area.

The reservoir was named after the Berryessa family of California; José Jesús and Sexto "Sisto" Berryessa were granted Rancho Las Putas in 1843.

Geography

The lake is over when full. It is approximately long and wide. It has approximately miles of shoreline.

Near the dam on the southeast side of the reservoir is an open bell-mouth spillway, in diameter, which is known as the Glory Hole. The pipe has a straight drop of , and the diameter shrinks down to about . The spillway has a maximum capacity of 48,000 cfs (1360 m<sup>3</sup>/s). The spillway operates when there is excess water in the reservoir; in 2017 after heavy rains it started flowing, for the first time since 2006. It started flowing again in 2019 after heavy rains. In 1997 a woman was killed after being pulled inside the spillway.

History

The area is the traditional lands of the Pomo tribe. The valley was an agricultural region, the soil was considered among the finest in the country. The discovery of gold in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada brought an influx of people to the Central Valley. Communities in Solano County grew quickly in the gold rush. This abandonment was chronicled by the photographers Dorothea Lange and Pirkle Jones in their work Death of a Valley, published in Aperture magazine in 1960. Some predicted the dam would be unsuccessful and the valley would never fill. Construction of Monticello Dam began in 1953, completed in 1958, and the reservoir filled by 1963, creating what at the time was the second-largest reservoir in California after Shasta Lake. The Monticello Dam with Lake Berryessa, Putah Diversion Dam with Lake Solano, and associated water distribution systems and lands are known collectively as the Solano Project, which is distinct from other water projects in California such as the Central Valley Project.

A few years after the completion of the dam, Governor Edmund G. Brown proposed a new project to build an even bigger dam and a larger lake. The "Greater Berryessa Project" was envisioned to be a much larger project; the 304-foot dam would be replaced with a 600-foot dam that would be capable of holding ten times the amount of water, expanding the lake to three times the current size, flooding productive farmland. The project's primary purpose was storage of northern water for use in parts of southern California. These smaller tributaries mostly contribute in the winter or wet season only and usually dry out in the summer months. Though Putah Creek is not the only creek that is directly impacted by the project, it is the only creek that is dammed. A study in 1986 shows that it is highly unlikely that Lake Berryessa will overflow. There are a few times that the water level has actually gone over , as it did on February 17, 2017. In the study, the probability of the lake level reaching . was estimated at one percent; likely only to happen once in a hundred years. The highest water level ever recorded at Lake Berryessa was . Raising Monticello dam is highly unlikely but one possible way to increase water storage at the lake is to raise the height of the Glory Hole. then SCWA and acting partners will work to find alternate water supplies for the lake's recipients and try to conserve the lake's water for as long as possible. Estimates from the bureau estimated that visitations at Lake Berryessa dropped to less than half since the termination of all seven resorts. The Bureau of Reclamation held an open bid period in 2015 to businesses for developmental opportunities at Lake Berryessa. As of early 2016 there were no successful bids for any of the concession areas at Lake Berryessa.

The Zebra and Quagga mussel infestation at Lake Berryessa is managed by the SCWA and its interns. The program, which has been operating for over 15 years, is intended to educate boaters about invasive mussels. Any boat that has been in waters known to have either mussel must wait thirty days from the day of inspection before re-entering the water. Unfortunately, insufficient funds and resources make it difficult to inspect boats year-round. The program only operates seasonally.

In 2007, the SCWA conducted a study of the lake bed to determine if the lake has lost any of its capacity due to sedimentation as well as map the lake bed as accurately as possible with new technology. The study found that Lake Berryessa has not lost storage capacity. It is used for seaplane landings and splash-ins.

Lake Berryessa is a swimming and water skiing site for enthusiasts. The narrow portion of the reservoir, nearest to the Monticello Dam, is referred to as the "Narrows," and is sometimes busy with boaters on holidays and weekends.

There are several resorts with marinas at the lake, as well as nearby Lake Solano County Park located west of Winters, California. Day use areas include Oak Shores and Smittle Creek. There are swimming areas closed to boats and other watercraft, as well as several hiking trails.

Lakeshore lands, facilities, and concessions in Napa County are managed by the Bureau of Reclamation. However, five of the seven resort concessions that expired in 2009 have not yet become fully operational. Based on rules against exclusive occupancy of federal recreation lands, about 1,300 long-term resident trailers were removed from the resorts when the 50-year concession contracts expired. In the following years, public usage of the lake dwindled due to government delays in formulating a future plan.

There is a seaplane landing area that is open to the public. One of the larger islands contained a small plane landing area but it was closed in the early 1970s in response to a safety report issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Fishing

Fishing at Lake Berryessa can be successful year-round as the lake is home to both warm-water and cold-water fish species. Lake Berryessa offers a variety of fish from sunfish to landlocked salmon. Because fish species are plentiful, fishing can be done in a variety of ways; from finesse techniques, bait fishing, and to trolling in the deep. Fish species at Lake Berryessa include; largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomeiu), spotted bass, channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus), bullhead catfish (Ictalurus dolomeiu), white catfish (Ameiurus catus), carp (Cyprinus carpio), Sacramento pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus grandis), crappie, bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus), rainbow trout (Onchorhynchus mykiss), brown and brook trout, Kokanee, and also Chinook salmon (Onchorhynchus tschawytscha). The rainbow trout species is native to the region while many other species were introduced. Largemouth bass and smallmouth bass were both introduced into the lake in the late 1950s and spotted bass followed in the 1980s. Bass and salmon are mostly noted as sport fishing species, bluegill, black and white crappie, and catfish are more of a recreational and beginners type of fish and carp and pikeminnow are usually not favored among anglers. The introduced species of carp is also present and feeds on organic matter, water snails, bloodworm, fresh water mussels as well as their own eggs.

Besides the Sacramento pikeminnow, Lake Berryessa also has the golden shiner and threadfin shad which are usually baitfish to the other species of fish. Aside from the fish Lake Berryessa also supports other aquatic organisms such as crawfish, clams, and otters. The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has issued a safe eating advisory for any fish caught in Lake Berryessa due to elevated levels of mercury. A copy of these guidelines can also be found at Lake Berryessa's Visitor Center. Mercury levels at Lake Berryessa are on the rise and there are no fish that OEHHA recommend to eat more than three times a week. In context of mercury, trouts are the best option for Berryessa at this time. Fishing regulations accord with standard California Department of Fish and Wildlife regulations.

Hunting

Hunting on Lake Berryessa is not permitted in lands that are managed by the Bureau of Reclamation. Firearms are allowed on these lands under specific criteria; possession of a Carry Conceal Weapon (CCW) certificate or, if the firearm is disassembled, disarmed and you have a valid California Hunting License and a Permit to Transport Firearm. The Permit to Transport Firearm does not allow for possession of firearm while recreating in Bureau of Recreation lands. Hunting can be possible on lands managed by other agencies next to Reclamation lands such as Knoxville Wildlife Area, Knoxville Recreation, and Cedar Roughs Wildlife area. These areas are under the jurisdiction of California Department of Fish and Wildlife and/or the Bureau of Land Management. Human beings are also present in these areas and the perimeter is fairly small so caution and safety should always be the main priority.

Cedar Roughs Wilderness

Adjoining the Lake Berryessa Recreational Area is the Cedar Roughs Wilderness Area. The Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Wilderness Act of 2006 set aside the former study area of located past Pope Creek bridge on the Pope Creek arm of Lake Berryessa. The wilderness area can be accessed by car or boat, although there are no maintained trails. Hiking can be difficult as more than half of the wilderness area consists of Sargent's cypress, which covers and is relatively pure genetically. It is the second most widely distributed cypress in California, and was named for Charles Sprague Sargent (1841–1927), the founder and director of Harvard University's Arnold Arboretum and author of the 14-volume Silva of North America. The area is jointly managed by the Bureau of Land Management and California Department of Fish and Game.

Flora and fauna

Notable plants in the area include sergeant cypress, white alder, leather oak, Jepson's navarretia, and Bridge's brodiaea.

The east side of the lake has a Wildlife Management Area managed by the California Department of Fish and Game that protects wildlife habitats for such species as mountain lion, black-tailed deer, western rattlesnake, raccoon, skunk, osprey, turkey, rabbit and golden eagle.

1969 murder

In 1969, the lake became the site of one of the Zodiac murders. On the evening of September 27, Pacific Union College students Bryan Hartnell and Cecelia Shepard were picnicking at Lake Berryessa on a small island connected by a sand spit to Twin Oak Ridge. A man approached them wearing a black executioner's-type hood with clip-on sunglasses over the eye-holes and a bib-like device on his chest that had a white cross-circle symbol on it. He approached them with a gun, which Hartnell believed to be a .45. The hooded man claimed to be an escaped convict from Deer Lodge, Montana, where he had killed a guard and stolen a car, explaining that he needed their car and money to go to Mexico. He had brought precut lengths of plastic clothesline and told Shepard to tie up Hartnell, before he tied her up. The killer checked and tightened Hartnell's bonds, after discovering Shepard had bound Hartnell's hands loosely. Hartnell initially believed it to be a weird robbery, but the man drew a knife and stabbed them both repeatedly. The killer then hiked back up to Knoxville Road, drew a cross-circle symbol on Hartnell's car door with a black felt-tip pen, and wrote beneath it: "Vallejo/12-20-68/7-4-69/Sept 27–69–6:30/by knife", the location and dates of the killer's first two crimes, and the date and time of the crime he had just committed.

At 7:40 p.m. (19:40), the killer called the Napa County Sheriff's office from a pay telephone to report this latest crime. The phone was found, still off the hook, minutes later at the Napa Car Wash on Main Street in Napa, only a few blocks from the sheriff's office, yet from the crime scene. Detectives were able to lift a still-wet palm print from the telephone but were never able to match it to any suspect.

After hearing their screams for help, a man and his son who were fishing in a nearby cove discovered the victims and summoned help by contacting park rangers. Cecelia Shepard was conscious when law enforcement officers from the Napa County Sheriff's office arrived, but lapsed into a coma during transport to the hospital and never regained consciousness. She died two days later, but Hartnell survived to recount his tale to the press. Napa County Sheriff Detective Ken Narlow, who was assigned to the case from the outset, worked on solving the crime until his retirement from the department in 1987.

References

External links

US Bureau of Reclamation Lake Berryessa Website
The Lake Berryessa News
Lake Berryessa Recreation Areas map
[http://www.usbr.gov/projects/Project.jsp?proj_Name=Solano+Project]
[http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/waterrights/board_decisions/adopted_orders/judgments/]
[http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/waterrights/board_decisions/adopted_orders/orders/1996/wro96-02.pdf]
[http://www.dfg.ca.gov/lands/wa/region3/lakeberryessa.html]
UC Davis page on the history of the valley
- information, images, and construction information about the Lake Berryessa glory hole.