Lake Berryessa was formed when the Bureau of Reclamation built Monticello Dam on Putah Creek in 1957. Project purposes included flood control, municipal and industrial water supply, and irrigation water supply. Lake Berryessa is located in northern California; the Monticello Dam is the largest Hydroelectric Power Plant owned and operated by the Solano Irrigation District.
The Morning Glory Spillway (Glory Hole) is the funnel-shaped outlet that allows water to bypass the dam. This funnel-shaped outlet lets water bypass the dam when it reaches its maximum capacity (1,602,000 acre-feet), as it swallows a rate of 48,400 cubic feet per second (1370 m³/s). The distance from the funnel to the exit point is situated on the south side of the canyon approximately 700 feet. This kind of spillway is mainly a massive cement funnel.
The Hole’s narrow diameter is 28 feet and the largest diameter is 72 feet. For some clear reasons, swimming near the glory hole is prohibited. There are buoys strung across the lake to stop boaters and swimmers from approaching the glory hole and the dam. Moreover, the glory hole is well fenced off from the land.
The Lake Berryessa Recreation area is Federally-owned, public land administered by Reclamation. The name Berryessa is from two brothers with the last name of Berryessa. The brothers, Jose Jesus, and Sisto Berryessa owned a considerable portion of the land in and around the town of Monticello, now covered by the waters of Lake Berryessa.
A spillway is a structure used to provide for the controlled release of water flows from a dam or levee into a downstream area, usually, the river that was dammed. Spillways release flood water due to security reasons, not over top, damage & destroy the dam. It is normally used in rainy seasons or flood periods when water doesn’t flower over a spillway.
Moreover; to release water on a regular basis for water supply, hydroelectricity generation, etc. Floodgates and fuse plugs may be designed into spillways to regulate water flow and dam height. The other uses of “spillway” include a bypass of dams or outlets of channels used during high water, and outlet channels carved through natural dams such as moraines.
Lake Berryessa - Morning Glory Spillway
Lake Berryessa – Morning Glory Spillway
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