The Lake Berryessa News

Your Information Gateway to Lake Berryessa and our Napa Back Roads!

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Homes For Sale

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Glory Hole Photo Album

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Horoscope
 
Aries (3/21-4/19):
Jupiter is in your sun sign this week, making it pretty crowded in there, what with Jupiter being the largest of the planets and all. 
 
Taurus (4/20 - 5/20):
You thought true love would last forever, but you're shocked to discover an expiration date printed on the back, just below the consumer warnings.
 
Gemini (5/21 - 6/20): 
 You will fall victim to a dangerous personality disorder that makes you believe that the personal lives of celebrities are interesting and important.
 
Cancer (6/21-7/22): 
Frankly, the stars don't understand what your problem is with calamari. So what if it's tentacles? It's delicious! Eat it already! 
 
Leo (7/23-8/22):
 Next week will be a time of great financial and emotional rewards. It's just too bad you won't be there to see it.
 
Virgo (8/23-9/22): 
 Your marriage will soon erode to the point where you'll be sorely tempted to turn her in for the reward money.
 
Libra (9/23-10/22):
 You will be shocked to learn that, due to a legal fluke, your long-term houseguest is now your common-law wife.
 
Scorpio (10/23-11/21): 
 After 14 long years, you will be admitted to the Baseball Hall Of Fame when you finally come up with the $11.50 admission price.
 
Sagittarius (11/22-12/21):
 Start childproofing your house now, as a pack of bloodthirsty feral children is headed your way.
 
Capricorn (12/22-1/19): 
 Your uniqueness as a human being is threatened when you find a person who enjoys ham just as much as you do.
 
Aquarius (1/20-2/18): 
The way to respond to a stupid question is to pretend not to hear it, which is why your friends all seem to have hearing problems.
 
Pisces (2/19-3/20): 
 You're finally entering the period of life in which the things that you want to do greatly outnumber the things that you will eventually do.

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Sit of Shame: That moment when you're sitting in your car after being pulled over by a cop. Knowing that every person driving by is looking at you.
 
Social Fruitfly: Like a social butterfly, without any charm or beauty. An unwanted pest.
 
Social Hacking: Not to be confused with social engineering, social hacking is to insert your own made-up words into everyday use in an attempt to get other people to use your vocabulary. You can measure accomplishments by finding strangers you have never met that use your word.
 
Disney Channel: A channel that always has shows with lame, repetetive plots, and will make a show or a movie every time they think of an amusing pun or any random theme (i.e. a kid who plays baseball and cooks.) Although the target audience is 9 year old girls and fruity boys of their early teens/preteens, they will not heisitate to make movies like "High School Musical" (by the way, if they wanted to make a realistic high school movie, it wouldn't be on Disney Channel, it would be on comedy central at 10:00 at night.) Every frikin month they make a new movie and use the same actors (or better yet actresses) over and over and end up turning them into crappy, anerexic pop performers with no skill who end up lasting for little over a year.
 
Unfortunately you can tell it will be around for a LONG time since their so rich they dont even need to show commercials that dont advertise their own things

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Reclamation to Hold Lake Berryessa Community Forum Meeting on Wednesday, May 22 

The Bureau of Reclamation will hold the next meeting of the Lake Berryessa Community Forum on Wednesday, May 22, at the Capell Valley Fire Station, located at the southern end of the lake. Forum meetings are designed to promote public input regarding future recreation opportunities and services at Lake Berryessa. The public is invited to attend the Forum meeting which will be held:

 Wednesday, May 22, 6-8 p.m., Capell Valley Fire Station, 1193 Capell Valley Road, Lake Berryessa, CA  

At the April 24 meeting held at Elks Lodge #832 in Napa, Calif., Reclamation staff and members of the Community Forum’s Coordinating Team discussed the new names of the lake’s concession areas; plans for Camp Berryessa; impacts of sequestration; the trails management plan; the Environmental Assessment for interim services; the timeline, plan and budget for concession services from 2013 to 2017; and the current status of recreation services. 

Discussion topics for the May 22 meeting will include the status of interim concession contracts, the process for moving forward with the request for proposals and long-term contracts, Reclamation’s activities for fire management for the 2013 season and the current status of recreation services.

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Lake Berryessa Water Level as of 5/13/13

The water level dropped 5 inches this week - to 427.43 feet msl or 12.57 feet below the Glory Hole spillway. The official season rain total is 20.36 inches since July 1, 2012 at Monticello Dam. 

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Celebrate World Environment Day at Lake Berryessa
On June 2nd with a Cleanup and Picnic

On Sunday, June 2, 2013, Lake Berryessa will host its third annual celebration of World Environment Day with a cleanup of the lakeshore followed by a delicious picnic lunch. The event begins at 9:30 am, with cleanup activities running from 10:00 am until 12:00 pm. Post-cleanup festivities will take place at Markley Cove Resort.

The event is sponsored by the Lake Berryessa Watershed Partnership with funding from Anheuser Busch/The River Network. The Bureau of Reclamation and Solano Resource Conservation District are organizing the cleanup, Lake Berryessa Boat and Jet Ski Rental will haul the collected trash and Markley Cove Resort will host the picnic.

The United Nations first started World Environment Day in 1972 to build global awareness of the environment, encourage political attention and support individual and community projects. Locally, World Environment Day is well-timed for the start of Lake Berryessa’s season: volunteers pick up trash after the Memorial Day weekend, helping start the summer with Lake Berryessa in the best shape possible. The Lake Berryessa Watershed Partnership’s long term goal is for participants to find less and less trash on the shoreline as awareness grows that the lake is a drinking water source for almost half a million people, and that trash poses hazards to recreation, wildlife and habitat.

“This Cleanup is really fun, and it keeps building,” says Lake Berryessa Watershed Partnership Coordinator Marianne Butler of Solano RCD. “We had a wonderful, sunny day last year, and sixty volunteers and organizers scoured the shoreline, removing trash and recyclables.” Butler reports that her volunteer group was made up of individual citizens and employees from Anheuser Busch, Genentech and Travis Air Force Base. Linda Frazier, the owner of Markley Cove Resort, adds “This is a terrific event and a great opportunity for people to demonstrate their care and appreciation for Lake Berryessa’s clean water.”

The organizers request that all participants wear sturdy shoes or hiking boots and bring work gloves if they can. Everyone who pre-registers by May 20 will get a free World Environment Day shirt and lunch. Butler urges service groups and other youth groups to contact her about participating.  For more information about World Environment Day Lake Berryessa Cleanup, and ways you or your organization can participate, please contact Marianne.Butler@Solanorcd.org or 707.301.5778.

World Environment Day 2012

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For those of you who may be Lake Berryessa history buffs, here are a couple of maps from 1957 and 1963 with the back page ads from the 1963 map. Click on the map for a larger version to download...

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Come on out to Lake Berryessa. The water's fine!

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Reclamation and Markley Cove Resort Sign Interim Contract for
Continued Concession Management at Lake Berryessa

NAPA, Calif. – On May 1, the Bureau of Reclamation signed an interim contract with John and Linda Frazier for the continued management of the Markley Cove Resort concession area at Lake Berryessa, Napa, Calif. The term of the new interim concession contract is from May 27, 2013, through December 31, 2014, plus two, one-year option periods.

“Reclamation has enjoyed a positive and successful relationship with the Fraziers for many years, and we are pleased that this relationship will continue for this interim period,” stated David Murillo, Regional Director for Reclamation’s Mid-Pacific Region 

Markley Cove Resort, approximately 12 miles west of Winters, Calif., at 7521 State Highway 128, provides marina operations including boat launching, boat and jet-ski rentals, boat slip rentals and fueling service as well as vacation cabin rentals, day use and a general store 

In addition to the services provided by Markley Cove Resort, Pleasure Cove Marina, at 6100 State Highway 128, offers a full range of recreation activities including RV and tent camping; cabin rentals; boat launching; boat slip rentals; houseboat, ski boat and jet-ski rentals; fueling service and a general store 

Reclamation expects to sign interim contracts with other concessionaires in the next few weeks to provide camping, day use and boat launching services at Steele Canyon Recreation Area and Putah Canyon Recreation Area and to provide camping and day use services at Spanish Flat Recreation Area.

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Summary of Lake Berryessa April 24, 2013 Community Forum Meeting

Little news from the Bureau of Reclamation during the last two weeks. No date proposed for any renewed camping at Steele Canyon Recreation Area, Spanish Flat RA or Putah Canyon RA. Everything is still "in negotiation". The launch ramp and road situation at Steele Canyon is still up in the air. The previous owner of Steele Park Resort told the Lake Berryessa News last week that he had not spoken with the BOR for a month and has no real idea as to what they are doing.
 
A summary of the April 24 Public Forum Meeting in Napa is available at: Summary of Lake Berryessa April 24, 2013 Community Forum Meeting. It includes all of the latest information available - except for the following story about the Markley Cove contract that was just released today.
 
Reclamation has chosen Planning Alternative 1 from the previous meeting and now calls it the Lake Berryessa Long Term Contract Timeline. It shows that the new Prospectus is to be distributed in November, 2013 with construction of the new resorts to begin, if all goes well, by about November, 2015 - 2 1/2 years from now!

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Will There Be Tent & RV Camping This Summer at Lake Berryessa?
 
As of now, camping can be found only at Pleasure Cove Marina. Reclamation says that interim contracts for several areas are approaching completion. A contract with Pleasure Cove Marina to operate Steele Canyon Recreation Area and Spanish Flat Recreation Area is in final review. Once the contract is signed Reclamation will be able to announce a starting date for services in those areas. The contract would be for the 2013 recreation season, with two option years. 
 
Reclamation is still in search of a concession contractor for Putah Canyon Recreation Area and the northern portion of Oak Shores Day Use Area. If no concession contractor is found to operate these two areas, Reclamation will operate Putah Canyon Recreation Area as a boat launch and day use area for the summer, while continuing to look for a concession operator and would operate the northern half of Oaks Shores as a day use area. Reclamation has recruited volunteer park hosts to coordinate with park rangers in the operation of Oak Shores Day Use Area and Putah Canyon Recreation Area if necessary. 

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New Berryessa Snow Mountain National Conservation Area Map Released

The new BSMNCA map has been released by Congressman Mike Thompson’s office. Thompson’s original map introduced with the NCA legislation last year caused much concern because it included large areas of private property. At a public meeting, Thompson promised to modify the map boundaries to remove private property as well as to change the written legislation itself to guarantee that private property was not included - the Berryessa Highlands, for example. He also modified the bill to specifically allow motorized recreation to continue at Lake Berryessa.

SEC. 7. WATER: Nothing in this Act: (8) affects the use of motorized or non-motorized watercraft (including personal, commercial, and recreational watercraft) on Lake Berryessa. The complete bill is available at: http://www.lakeberryessanews.com/BSM_NCA/HR1025.pdf

The Cache Creek Wilderness Study Area has been added to the NCA so there's no longer a gap between the lower and upper halves of the NCA, which originally separated Lake Berryessa. Only part of the Mendocino Forest is in the NCA, as before, but only part of the Snow Mountain Wilderness, approximately two-thirds, is actually included in the NCA. That seems a bit odd since the NCA is named after it. And what’s wrong with including the rest of the Mendocino National Forest?

According to Congressman Thompson’s office, they worked with Congressman Huffman, who now has the Mendocino National Forest in his district, and Congressman Garamendi since it pertains to lands in their districts. The current boundaries are based on a combination of political boundaries and boundaries that are logical based on other features (roads, rivers, edges of property, etc.). Click on the map below for a larger version...

HR 1025: Berryessa Snow Mountain National Conservation Area (PDF)

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Here's a very good five minute KQED radio summary of the basic Berryessa Snow Mountain NCA issues.

Another Try For California's Second National Conservation Area

April 26, 2013 by Craig Miller, KQED Science Editor

Compared to the nation’s 16 existing National Conservation Areas, the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Conservation Area (BSMNCA) would be among the biggest, a patchwork of lands variously managed by the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Bureau of Reclamation, pulling in three already-designated wilderness areas and a sizable chunk of the Mendocino National Forest.

Talking with hikers and boaters around the lake, I found few who were even aware of the proposed NCA, let alone knew what it would mean. And that’s where it gets tricky. There seems to be no one set of rules for NCAs. Each one has its own "site-specific" set of protections and restrictions.

"I say this just doesn’t qualify," says Peter Kilkus, who publishes the Lake Berryessa News website from his 60-acre homestead overlooking the lake. He and some other landowners and business interests have opposed the NCA, saying it’s just not necessary. Read and hear the full story...

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Saturday, June 1: 31st Annual Davis Aquatic Masters Lake Berryessa Open Water Swim

DAM's Annual Lake Berryessa Swim is one of the longest running open water swim events in America. Begun in 1981 as a friendly lake swim, this event now attracts over 500 swimmers each year to the Oak Shores Day Use Area on the shores of Lake Berryessa.

Registration Information: https://www.clubassistant.com/club/meet_information.cfm?c=1741&smid=4709

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The Lake Berryessa News Archives (2005 - 2012)

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Peter Kilkus, Owner/Editor
1515 Headlands Drive
Napa, CA 94558
pkilkus@gmail.com, 415-307-6906
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Last Updated on May 13, 2013

Copyright © 2013

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Berryessa Boat, Jet Ski, & RV Repair

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napa valley ca

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Winters Chamber of Commerce

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Napa Chamber of Commerce

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Video: Road Building at Lake Berryessa in 1929

Monticello Rodeo Video1

Monticello Rodeo Video2

Man and Pipe

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