High water levels lead to extended activation of Lake Berryessa's "glory hole" spillway
A rare and mesmerizing scene is taking place in the North Bay as the round "glory hole" spillway at Lake Berryessa is active for the first time in six years.
An historian who helped make the spillway a global sensation told CBS News Bay Area it has become something of a local tourist attraction..
The activation of the Lake Berryessa spillway is good news as far as Northern California's water supply. It means the winter in the North Bay has been wet enough for the lake to be filled to the brim.
Peter Kilkus is a local historian, scientist, journalist and author who also runs the Lake Berryessa News website, which monitors the spillway.
"It's called a glory hole spillway. That's really what the engineers called it and we shortened it to glory hole," explained Kilkus. "Some people say, 'Oh, that's really beautiful.' Some people say, 'That's frightening.'"
Regardless of the reaction, the spillway really sucks people in.
"Yeah, it's a big tourist draw. In fact, on a heavy day on the weekend, you can't even park here," Kilkus said.
While most dams use traditional spillways, there wasn't room for them at the Monticello Reservoir. So the water goes down the specialized 70-foot diameter drain before it makes a 90-degree turn and is dumped into the creek below.
It is an unusual design.
"Yes, this is fairly rare. There are only two in California, and there are a couple others in Europe, but they're very rare," said Kilkus.
The activation of the spillway is also fairly rare, because the water doesn't overflow into it very often. The last time it was activated was 2019. Before that was in 2017.
"2017 was the first time it went over in 11 years," said Kilkus.
That was when drone video the Lake Berryessa News posted on YouTube went viral.
"We had 62 million views around the world," remembered Kilkus. "After that, it really became an attraction around the world."
This year's wet winter has led to an extended activation of the spillway. The glory hole first spilled on February 4. The highest water level occurred on ten days later on Valentine's Day, when it rose to nearly 443 feet. The level has been above the glory hole = 46.
The dam was completed in 1957, creating Lake Berryessa while eliminating a small community in the process.
"Of course, it buried a town. There was a town here that was one of the great agricultural producers before 1958," said Kilkus.
The name of the town was Montecello, which became the namesake of the dam. Now the water goes to half a million people in Solano County. When the lake's level is low, the outflow pipe into Putah Creek becomes a mecca for skateboarders.
And when its high?
"It's really a circular waterfall. As a scientist, I love to watch the water flow, because I know the physics behind it," said Kilkus. "And as a normal human being, it's just beautiful."
