Stored behind the Monticello Dam on Putah Creek, Lake Berryessa is a key reservoir for drinking water, irrigation, recreation, hydroelectric power, and flood control in the surrounding region. As the primary source of drinking water for Solano County, the lake supplies reliable, high-

Feb 4, 2025 · The Lake Berryessa water level has started to stabilize at 442.6 feet, 2.6 feet above Glory Hole. Now the question is how high the lake level will get due to future storms. The latest report from the Solano Irrigation District has begun to include the spill through Glory Hole.

During wet winters the when the lake hits capacity (defined as a lake level above 440 feet msl), water starts flowing over this circular spillway popularly known as the Glory Hole - more formally known as a Morning Glory Spillway - into Putah Creek on its way to the City of Winters.

The Lake Berryessa watershed encompasses the 576–square mile area primarily fed by Putah Creek which originates from springs on the eastside of Cobb Mountain in Lake County. Putah Creek enters Napa County about 11 miles east of Middletown.

The charts below shows the history of Lake Berryessa since Monticello Dam was built in 1957. The lake has had previous droughts, one in the late 1970’s, a ten-year drought from 1986 to 1996, and the latest from 2006 to 2017.

"At Lake Berryessa, the bite for multiple species remains outstanding when the fish decide to feed. The action for Eagle Lake-strain trout remains solid from the surface to 80 feet

Lake Berryessa is the largest federal reservoir in California whose waters are available almost exclusively to users in one county, which sits just miles from the source, said Drew Lessard, a deputy area manager for the Bureau of Reclamation.

Lake Berryessa was created as part of the Solano Project with the completion of Monticello Dam in 1957. In 1958, Reclamation and the County of Napa entered into an agreement for the County to assume management responsibilities for the lake.

Some people have raised the issue of the Napa County General Plan and its applicability to the Lake Berryessa Revitalization Program (Renaissance Lake Berryessa). Legally the General Plan has no jurisdiction over Lake Berryessa development since federal government owns the land on which the target resort redevelopment is occurring.

The published data defines the surface area of Lake Berryessa when it is at a lake level of 440’ msl (the Glory Hole spillway height) as 20,700 acres with a total volume of 1,602,000 acre feet.