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February, 201725¢

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Lake Berryessa Map - Page 5

Napa County Cares aboutLake Berryessa - Finally!Napa County wants a little

help from the state and federalgovernments for affordablehousing, a Lake Berryessarecreation revival and a host ofother items contained in a 30-page booklet with 39 issues.

The County is consideringwhether to take over managingthe Bureau of Reclamation’sstalled effort to redevelop fiveLake Berryessa resorts.

The Department of theInterior and Bureau ofReclamationare suffering somepersonnel shuffles during thetransition to a newadministration in Washington.Deputy County ExecutiveOfficer Molly Rattiganexpressed concern that theBureau of Reclamation mightname a new point person for thetalks between the county andthe agency.

“I think changing who’s onthat project right now would bevery detrimental to us,”Rattigan said. Rattigan wasreferring to the promotions ofseveral Reclamation high-levelofficials to temporary “acting”positions during thepresidential transition.

Louis Moore, ReclamationDeputy Public Affairs Officertold the Lake Berryessa Newsin a telephone interview thatthese personnel changes wereonly temporary until PresidentTrumpmadenewappointmentsfor Secretary of the Interior andBureau of ReclamationCommissioner.

Moore said this temporarychange should not affect theongoing process between NapaCounty and Reclamation.

Rattigan is leading theLakeBerryessa project for theCounty. She is working withconsultants from RagatzSedgwick Realty which waschosen for its knowledge andexperience in developinghotels, resorts and otherrecreational opportunities.

Ragatz Sedgwick Realtywill assist the County inidentifying interestedconcession partners bymarketing the opportunity tothe resort community andperforming a feasibilityanalysis to determine the bestuse of each site.

RichardRagatz has been inNapa touring the closed resorts,gathering information, andmeeting with, among others,the Bureau of Reclamation,Visit Napa Valley staff, andmembers of the Board ofDirectors of the LakeBerryessaChamber of Commerce.

The Chamber Boardmembers came away from theirmeeting with Ragatz andRattigan last week with arenewed sense of optimism forthe future of the lake. TheChamber will do everything itcan to help achieve the goal of a“Renaissance Lake Berryessa”.

But we'll need your help. Asurvey is beingdeveloped to getpublic input about what peoplelike about Lake Berryessa andwhat recreational amenitiesthey desire to see in the future.

As Richard Ragatz put it,he’d like to “hear your thoughtsabout anything you think mightbe helpful in educatingpotential concessionaires anddevelopers about why LakeBerryessa is a darn good placeto do business.”

Water In, Water Out, ButFrom Where?

The rain causing the rapidincrease in lake levels raisesquestions for some aboutwhereall the water comes from andwhere it goes. The lake is risingand lower Putah Creek isflowing fast, but not muchwater is being released from thedam.Andsomepeoplequestionwhy anywater is being releasedfrom Lake Berryessa when it isnot yet full.

Many people don’tunderstand that Lake Berryessawas created for: 1. Irrigation inSolano County, 2. Drinkingwater (now for 500,000people). Recreational use wasnot considered a prioritybecause of the large swings inwater level expected. Manyalso don’t realize that NapaCounty gets little of LakeBerryessa water except for thesmall villages scattered aroundthe lake like the BerryessaHighlands, Spanish Flat,Berryessa Pines, and BerryessaEstates. But that’s a politicalhistory story for another day.

The watershed for LakeBerryessa is derived from the568 square mile drainage basinabove the dam. There are fourprincipal creeks that flow intoLake Berryessa: Capell Creek,Pope Creek, Eticuera Creek,and Putah Creek - the maindrainage of the basin.

Although there’s a lot ofwater flowing in Lower PutahCreek, nearly 90% of the PutahCreek watershed is above LakeBerryessa, and most of the rainis flowing into Lake BerryessaNOT OUT OF IT. Nearly all ofthe flow in Putah Creek nearWinters today is from the main

creeks below Lake Berryessa.There are four main creeks

below Berryessa. They areWildhorse Creek (Cold Creek)right next to the MonticelloDam, Pleasant's Creek whichempties into Lake Solano, andMcCune Creek and Dry Creekbelow the Diversion Dam justupstream of the railroad bridgeat Winters.

For example, the total flowout of Lake Berryessa was1,625 acre-feet (AF) forJanuary, 2017. During thatsameperiod, the lake’s capacityrose by 399,970AF. The outputwas only 0.4% of the input. (1CFS = 1.98 acre-feet per day; 1AF = 325,851 US gallons perday)

The Solano IrrigationDistrict monitors this andactually reduces flows from thebottom of Lake Berryessaduring rain events to conserveasmuchwater as possible in the

lake. But the flow needs to be at least45 CFS in order to properly operatethe power house - this has been theaverage outflow every day for the fullmonth of January, 2017.

The photos below show what adifference a year makes!

3Onion HeadlinesReport: AmericansMost Physically

Active When GettingComfy

God Announces PlansTo Shift Majority OfResources Tied Up InHumanity Project To

Birds, Rocks

Transition TeamAssures Public TrumpHas Too Many

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Republicans Vow NotTo Repeal ObamacareWithout Detailed PlanFor Disposing OfPatients’ Disease-Ridden Corpses

Cockroaches FeelingVery OptimisticAbout Future Of

PlanetMan From ChippewaFalls, WisconsinHates When PeopleFrom Eagle PointClaim To Be FromChippewa Falls

More AmericansConcerned Illegal

Immigrants Will TakeTheir Spot On Couch

Explanation Of BoardGame Rules PepperedWith ReassurancesThat It Will Be Fun

More Office WorkersSwitching To FetalPosition Desks

Atlantic OceanExcited To Move IntoBeautiful BeachfrontMansion Soon

6 The Lake Berryessa Chamber of Commercewants you to know that

Beautiful Lake Berryessa is OPEN!All recreation areas - Markley Cove, Pleasure Cove, SteeleCanyon, Spanish Flat, and Putah Canyon - are open forlaunching and will remain open. The Capell Public LaunchRamp is closed butmay reopen before the end of January dueto recent rains.

OakShoresDayUseArea is great for picnics and viewing thelake and wildlife. After touring around the lake and stoppingat local wineries like Rustridge and Nichelini, a wide varietyof food and drink is available at Cucina Italiana, Spanish FlatCountry Store & Deli, and Turtle Rock.

Delve into the fascinating past of the Town of Monticello,nowat thebottomof the lake, byvisiting theBerryessaValleyHistoryExhibit at the Spanish FlatVillageCenter. Please usethis web site to contact our members to make use of theirservices:www.lakeberryessanews.com/chamber-of-commerce/

Camping For Seniors(or, Too Old To Squat!)by Soddy McWombat

I have loved camping since I was a small child.And I’m talking about rough camping with a tentor tarp for shelter and the barest minimum ofluxuries. I am not referring to “camping” in alarge motorhome equipped with a full bathroom,squishy full-size bed and a full kitchen. That iswhatmywife considers camping, bless her heart,and I have to admit I do enjoy it aswell, especiallyon longer vacations.

But several times a year I venture into the woodswith only what I can fit in the back of my smallJeep, and spend a few days by myself away fromthe distractions of television, phones, email,computers, and annoying people. I have a little “secret”camping spot about 100miles fromhome that is perfect–a small flat area about 100 yards away from the dirt road,behind some trees and next to a pristine creek. If I remainquiet, the few cars that go by don’t even know I’m there.

Some of you may have watched my video article “BugOut Basics–The Acid Test” on Guns and Gunsmithswhere I went camping with nothing but my small bug-out bag.

No tent, sleeping bag, propane stove or any of the usualstuff you might take on a camping trip. It was fun, andeducational, but not very comfortable–especially at 4o’clock in the mornings when the temperatureplummeted to about freezing. However when I gocamping just for the heck of it, I usually take someluxuries–after all, it’s supposed to be fun and relaxing,right?

But recently I woke up and wondered who was the oldman in themirror looking back atme, and I now find thatthere are some things about camping that are definitelynot as easy as when I was a younger man. What to do?Give up camping? Never!Wemust adapt and overcomethe difficulties faced in our senior years and continue tolive life to the max!

So, over the last couple of years I have added a few new

items tomy camping supplies that aremore suited tomysenior situation.Most of themhave to dowith getting offthe ground. As a young lad, I could spring up and downfrom the dirt just by uncrossing my legs, my handsusually full of beer and burgers. Not any more! Now Igrunt and groan like a wounded bear and struggle tomaintain any hint of dignity as I lumber to my feet andthen try not to lose balance and fall back down again.Embarrassing!Sohere are a fewof the “modcons” I nowtake camping.

Dining Table and ChairIt is never particularly comfortable to squat on theground with a plate of beans balanced on your lap whendining al fresco in the bush. So now I always take alonga folding camp chair and a small kiddies fold-up table Ipicked up at my local Costco. All I need now is a set offine china and candelabra, right? The table is also handyjust for keeping things out of the dirt when relaxingaround the campfire.

Camping CotSleeping on the ground is fine until you wake up in themiddle of the nightwith an urgent need to go outside andwater the trees (something that also seems to happenmore frequently as we age). It’s hard enough trying tounzip the sleeping bag with frozen fingers without thenhaving to struggle to your knees, crawl out of the tent andstand up without tripping over the tent guy lines in thedark. So I added an inexpensive fold-up cot that at leastallows me to swing my legs over and get into somesemblance of a sitting position first.

HammockThis Christmas I asked for (and received) a specialtycamping hammock. These have several advantages overtents and cots–you can set them up over rough groundand not feel every rock in your back, you can set them ata comfortable sitting height for easy in and out, and bygolly it is so much more comfortable than the cot I was

telling you about above. A camping hammock isalso much smaller than a tent, so it is great whenbackpacking.

You do need some ”accessories” for yourhammock such as a tarp to erect over the top incase of rain or drop bears, a mosquito net if it isthat timeof the year, and anunder-blanket or padto stop your backside from freezing when thecold wind blows.

ToiletOK, here’s where it gets ugly. I’m afraid to saythat I am too old to squat without the fear offalling backwards, my pants tightly wrappedaroundmy ankles, and trying to avoidwhat I justleft on the ground! A portable toilet which isnothing more than a seat on a lightweight frame

now gets set up over a small foxhole a respectabledistance from my campsite, along with a roll of TP anda small shovel for burying the evidence.

IlluminationOlder eyes need more light. Sorry, but that’s a fact, so Ialso added a great little battery-powered LED lamp. Itcan standon the table, or hang from the tent roof or a tree,and last about 80 hours on the low setting. It is muchmore convenient that a propane lantern, and the newLED bulbs last a long time. I foundmine onAmazon fora very good price.My oldColeman propane lantern nowcollects cobwebs in the garage.

Other than these, my camping equipment is pretty muchthe sameaswhen Iwas younger andmore agile.Butwiththe addition of these few concessions to old age, I canstill look forward to a camping trip and have a great timein the bush without falling down, hurting my knees,getting really dirty and taking ibuprofen for all theresultant aches and pains.

Spare the Air Days - Wood Burning For Heat - UpdateSeveral years ago I wrote an article about wood burning exemptions that appliedto some people in rural areas such as Lake Berryessa. BAAQMD has released apolicy paper that clarifies the issue. BAAQMD removed the exemption forresidences using propane rather than natural gas provided by a utility company.

The Woodsmoke Rule states that you are exempt from the Burn Ban if wood-burning is your only source of space heat andyourwood-burningdevice is anEPA-certified device that is registered with the Air District. If you have another formof permanently-installed space heating, then you may not use your wood-burningdevice during a Burn Ban.

These other forms of permanently-installed heating include central forced-airfurnace, wall heaters, radiant heaters, baseboard heaters, or other forms ofpermanently-installedheatingpoweredbynatural gas, propane, or electricity. Youmay still be exempt from the Burn Ban if you have space-heating that is notpermanently installed, such as a portable electric heater that can be moved fromroom to room.

The Woodsmoke Rule states that during a Winter Spare the Air Alert, it is illegalto use anywood-burning device such as fireplaces, woodstoves, or pellet stoves inthe Bay Area. The Woodsmoke Rule has three “limited exemptions” that allowpeople in specific situations to burn wood during a Burn Ban:

Sole Source of Heat (Section 6-3-110)Non-functional, Permanently-Installed Heater (Section 6-3-111)Loss of Natural Gas and/or Electric Power (Section 6-3-112)

The intent of the Sole Source of Heat Exemption is to allow use of wood-burningdevices when another form of space heating is not available. Therefore, if you arein an area that does not have natural gas service, but you have a permanently-installedheater (for instance, propane), thenyouarenot exempt from theBurnBan.

If there is no electrical service in an area provided by a public utility, then the burnban does not apply unless another form of permanently-installed heat is available.You are also exempt during a power outage or if your space heater (gas or electric)is broken.

See the BAAQMD web site foe more details:

http://www.sparetheair.org/stay-informed/particulate-matter/wood-smoke/regulation

54 Update Regarding theLake Berryessa Kokanee Fishery

ByGarry Erck, President –CIFFI &GaryCoe,President Kokanee Power

Many people have noticed the decline inthe kokanee fishery at Lake Berryessa –andquite honestly it’s a concern to all;withmany folks suggesting that we need todrastically increase the kokanee plants atBerryessa to revive the fishery.

But good science and not anecdotalinformationmust rule thedayand theDFWhas some interesting information they havegathered about Berryessa and may have abetter understanding of what is happening.

A study over the past 18 months has beenconducted on Lake Berryessa; in the hopesof identifying why the kokanee fishery hasdeclined there. By using water qualitysamples from late 2015 and through 2016,the DFWhas discovered that the dissolvedoxygen content of Lake Berryessa is lowerthan needed for a thriving kokanee fishery.During the sample period, dissolvedoxygenwasmeasured at a level of 2; a levelof 5 is needed for kokanee to thrive.

The runoff that fills Lake Berryessa is rainnot snow – thus, thewater entering the lakeiswarmer thanother lakes that receive theirwater from snowmelt (think Pardee,Melones, Pedro). Speculation is whenBerryessa’s capacity level dropssomewhere below 60% capacity, thehypolimnium, the lower layer of water in astratified lake, typically cooler than thewater above and relatively stagnant, is verysmall and that results in very low dissolvedoxygen levels - causing a kokanee die off.

When Berryessa fills, the hypolimniumlayer is thicker and greater dissolvedoxygen is available. Many may ask, whyhavewenot seen this earlier? Keep inmindthis is the first extended drought we haveexperienced since kokanee have beenplanted in Lake Berryessa.

The last extended drought was 1986-1991;before kokanee were ever planted inBerryessa. Kyle mentioned that he wasable to find sparse records noting a verylow dissolved oxygen level during the1976-1977 drought. More work is to bedone, but this is good fact-based work.

The 2015 kokanee egg take resulted in

57,000 kokanee fry being planted inCalifornia lakes. All of these fingerlingswereplanted inStampededuring the springof 2016. Eggs brought from WashingtonState resulted in 500,000 kokaneefingerlings planted in all the other lakesthat received plants in 2016.

The 2016 kokanee egg take for Californiawas zero eggs. Approximately 1 millioneggs are expected from Washington Statein January 2017, with an expected plantsize of approximately 825,000 fingerlingsplanted in the spring of 2017.

All Chinook planted in California lakescurrently come from the Klamath River.They are "triploided" and placed into ourvarious inland lakes. ActualChinookplantnumbers are determined after KlamathRiver mitigation numbers are met(Federally Mandated).

If there are extra eggs, these are thecandidates for planting into other lakes.The 2016 plant numbers for inlandChinook was 18,000 fingerlings in Shasta,2,200 in Trinity, 1,800 in Whiskeytownand 42,000 Chinook fingerlings plantedinto Folsom Lake.

Triploid Trout Getting Biggerin Lake Berryessa

Theprevious article regarding the kokaneefishery mentioned that all kokanee plantedin California are “triploided”. TheCalifornia Department of Fish and Game(DFG) stocked the first 3,400 pounds(6,800 fish) of catchable “triploid”rainbow trout in Lake Berryesss onFebruary 15, 2011. I wrote an articleregarding triploid trout in the LakeBerryessa News in 2011. I was remindedof that when Marcia and Judy at theSpanish Flat Country Store told me a fewweeks ago that anglers had been coming inwith 5 pound rainbow trout!

Through the mandated environmentalimpact studies done on California’s troutstocking program, it was found that thesteelhead, a federally threatened species,could interbreed with the non-nativestrains of hatchery trout that could escapeout the dam.

So in order to protect the genetic integrityof the native steelhead, only the steriletriploids are allowed to be stocked in Lake

Berryessa.The release standard is two troutper pound.The targetwas to release 40,000pounds of triploids in the lake (80,000 fish)in the first year.

Although some folks described them as“frankenfish” the triploid trout are normalrainbows, not genetically-engineered.They have been raised to be sterile butlook, fight, and taste just the same.

With no ability to reproduce, triploidsfocus all of their energy on eating andgrowing large - sometimes to exaggeratedproportions. But the largest of them, 20pounds and above, are found in the lakes ofWashington and Idaho.

Triploids are rare but natural phenomena inthe wild. To create thousands of them at atime took scientific experimentation.Thescience behind creating these fish happensduring the incubation of the trout eggs.

When trout spawn, the female’s eggspossess two sets of chromosomes and themale’s sperm possess one set. After theeggs are fertilized, the chromosomesrecombine and each egg inherits one set ofchromosomes from the female and anotherset fromthemale—similar tohumans.Thethird set is then kicked out of the egg.Rarely in the wild, an egg will “forget” tokick out the third set and the fish becomeswhat is known as a triploid (possessingthree sets of chromosomes).

Triploid fish look, swim, jump, and tastelike normal fish, except for one importantdifference—they never develop normaleggs or sperm and are unable to reproduce(i.e., they are sterile).

Through experimentation with this naturalprocess, researchers found that they couldcreate triploid trout both by exposing trouteggs to pressure and by placing trout eggsin a warm water bath shortly afterfertilization. Both processes inhibit a troutegg’s ability to kick out that third set ofchromosomes and a triploid fish is born.California’s DFG is currently using thepressuremethod for the production of theirtriploids.

The DFG plants catchable rainbows afterthey grow to a half-pound as part of a “put& catch” fishery that is designed foranglers to have at them for a short time.Survivability and growth are not a goal oftheprogram.Therewill not beanattempt toengineer monster-size trout.

These “put & catch” fish are meantspecifically for anglers to catch. A rule ofthumb is that there is a 50% catch rate by

anglers during the first 6months to a year offishing. But somepercent of each plantwill survive and grow.All rainbow trout havethe potential for largegrowth spurts if theyfind ahealthy spot, but itis unknown whether atriploid in LakeBerryessawill grow anylarger than a fertile fish.

Trout feed on smallinsects, minnows,crustaceans and worms.

Aquatic and terrestrial insects are the mainsources of natural food for trout. Thetriploids are not expected to have anegative effect on the number of othergame fish in the lake.

Five years ago I speculated that wewouldn’t know the result for several years.Well here we are in 2017 with very largetrout being caught. How many really bigones live in Lake Berryessa is unknown, asis how large they may finally get.

A lazy person like me would probablyrather catch two ten-pound trout than tentwo-pounders that I’d have to clean.Besides fishing is for the funof thecatch, soreal anglers would rather catch more smallfish than a few bigger ones (right?).

Lake Level Status: 2/1/17

The lake level has hit 428 feet - 12 feetbelow Glory Hole. Looking forward toseeing the impact of the coming storms.

The lake level at this time last year was401 feet, 27 feet lower than today.

The level has risen 29.4 feet since its lowof 398.6 feet on 10/23/16.

Rainfall total remains at 26.74 inches.

At the present level, Lake Berryessaholds 1,333,162 acre-feet of water -83.3% of its 1,600,000 A-F capacity.

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The man smiles: “Ah, I understand, ifyou are sane youwould take the bucket.”

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*****Anton, do you think I’m a bad mother?My name is Paul.

*****

After many years of studying at auniversity, I’ve finally become a PhD…or PizzaHutDeliveryman as people say.

*****A German, an American and a Russianwalk into a bar. The bartender looks atthem suspiciously and says, “Is thissome kind of a joke?”