WHAT HAPPENED AT LAKE BERRYESSA?
A CONDENSED POLITICAL HISTORY
1958 - 2018
by Peter Kilkus
How Could the Government Have Done Something So Stupid?
Download a PDF of the first 180 pages of the book here....
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Introduction
Without THE LAKE BERRYESSA NEWS there would be no Lake Berryessa News…and finally there would be no definitive history of what happened at Lake Berryessa. Having participated directly for more than twenty years as an advocate for the lake in the fiasco that was the Bureau of Reclamation’s Visitor Services Plan, its farcical but tragic outcome, and the process of rebuilding, I have very strong views of the causes and results - supported by facts and data which were mostly obfuscated by the proponents of the destruction of the lake’s residential and business community.
The Bureau of Reclamation and their supporters destroyed family recreation at Lake Berryessa for a generation of families, children, and friends. Many people ask me about the history of the process that led to the present situation at Lake Berryessa. When I explain what happened most become incredulous and can't believe the government could have done something so stupid. "How could they have gotten away with that?" they exclaim.
The goal of this book is to provide the history and the context within which such an incredibly destructive course of action took place.
The initial timeline shows a condensed history of the process. The next section tells the story through the eyes of Lake Berryessa News articles. With the permission of the Napa Register, a parallel history is presented through contemporaneous editorials, articles, and letters to the editor from the Napa Register.
This book is not a traditional academic exercise in historical exposition. Academic historians define history as presenting facts without expressing any opinion or analysis of the events whereas memories are comprised of emotions that can have a great influence on the perception of an actual event. Critical historians live by the old saying of "there are two sides to every story and then there is the truth."
I’m more interested in the narrative approach to defining this history. Almost two decades have passed since this story began, and Lake Berryessa history has been created with every day of that twenty years.
This book is the raw, as-it-happened, unfiltered picture of what many of us lived through. It is organized chronologically; focused on a single coherent story; primarily descriptive but also analytical; primarily concerned with people but also the abstract circumstances in which they find themselves. To me a big part of the fascination with any history is trying to discover what was going on inside people's heads in the past, and what it was like to live in that past.
The future is finally looking brighter for Lake Berryessa. History continues to unfold.
Peter Kilkus, Lake Beryessa, 2018
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Table Of Contents
Lake Berryessa History Timeline
How It All Began: The Origins of the “Big Lie”
Will History Repeat Itself In Reverse? What Happened in 1975?
Notice of Intent: Solano Project--Lake Berryessa; Napa, California
The “Big Lie” Continues: Task Force 7 Protests Reclamation’s Unjustified Negative Propaganda
The Facts Fight Back: What You Need to Know About the Battle for Berryessa
Local Businesses Fight Back: Chamber of Commerce Critique of Draft Environmental Impact Statement
Residents Fight Back: More Than 900 Unleash Scorn on Reclamation Plan
The Perversiopn of Public Law 96-375: Demolition Hardball by the Bureau of Reclamation
Reclamation Defends Unjust Requirement to Demolish ALL Existing Facilities At Lake Berryessa
The Pensus Years: The Lake Berryessa News View
• Pensus: The Short Story That Was Actually A Fantasy
• Pensus Signs Berryessa Contract – Begins Facilities Development – Announces Resort Openings
• Springtime at Lake Berryessa: Pensus in Bloom?
• They’re Off Like a Herd of Turtles! Bureaucracy at Berryessa
• Lake Berryessa: When Do Past Memories Actually Become “HISTORY”?
• Goodbye 2011: Another Year of Process Without Progress! Will 2012 Be Any Better?
• A Lake Berryessa Midsummer Night’s Dream (With Apologies to William Shakespeare)
• Applehood and Mother Pie! What’s Right, What’s Wrong, and Why
• Catch-22: The Bureaucratic Double Bind Theory in Practice
• Seasons, Cycles, and Radical Change: Chaos Theory - Lake Berryessa Style
• Floundering About at Lake Berryessa (This is not a fishing story.)
• SNAFU, FUBAR and BOHICA: Deciphering Berryessa’s Ancient Rock Sculpture at Steele Park
• Feds Final Folly: The Destruction of Steele Park - Public Law 96-375’s Unintended Consequence
• A Modest Radical Proposal: Transfer Management of Lake Berryessa to Napa County
• A Path Forward To Revitalize Lake Berryessa: Fire The Feds!
• Open Letter to the Federal Government: Get Out of Lake Berryessa!
• Napa County and the Bureau of Reclamation: Working Together to Rebuild Lake Berryessa?
• Will 2017 Be Lake Berryessa's Lucky Year?
• Milestone Achieved! A Positive Report on the Potential Future Rebirth of Lake Berryessa!
• The Future of Lake Berryessa Looks Brighter, But The Sun Also Rises A Bit Slowly
• Napa County Releases Lake Berryessa Request For Information & Interest
Lake Berryessa History Through Napa Register Editorials
• Stop resort owners from polluting lake: February 27, 2001
• You can help chart future of Lake Berryessa: July 22, 2003
• Berryessa: Put it back in public hands: February 23, 2006
• Berryessa's future brightens: June 15, 2006
• Clock ticking at Lake Berryessa: April 12, 2009
• The local’s view of fiasco at the lake: April 15, 2009
• Restoring trust at Berryessa: April 17, 2009
• Bureau hopes to return Berryessa to its heyday: April 10, 2011
• Inching forward at Lake Berryessa: March 16, 2013
• Lake Berryessa History Through Napa Register Articles
• Reclamation considers revamping Berryessa shoreline: February 25, 2001
• Officials plan makeover for Lake Berryessa: August 12, 2003
• Lake Berryessa public hearings begin: November 13, 2003
• Report says Berryessa better off without trailers: November 9, 2003
• Battle over Berryessa: Lake's history full of federal-local tensions: December 11, 2003
• Battle over Berryessa: Trailer owners offer own blueprint for future: December 11, 2003
• Crowd tells feds not to move Berryessa trailers: January 22, 2004
• Residents debate Berryessa's future: January 11, 2004
• Lake Berryessa trailer owners hire lobbyists: July 26, 2004
• Mobile home park residents challenge feds over lake economy: December 12, 2004
• Berryessa trailers must go: June 6, 2006
• Rancho Monticello, a resort with eye toward the future: June 12, 2006
• Trailers ousted from lake: June 7, 2006
• On the edge at Lake Berryessa: March 18, 2007
• Bidding heats up on control of resorts: December 6, 2007
• Feds identify likely winners to run Berryessa resorts: April 2, 2008
• At Berryessa, resorts begin to close, owners angry, future uncertain: June 10, 2008
• Big changes at Berryessa: July 27, 2008
• Remake at the lake: January 1, 2009
• Salvaging summer at the lake: March 23, 2009
• Bureau names top bidder for Berryessa resorts: January 14, 2010
• Deal signed for six Berryessa resorts: April 29, 2010
• Feds terminate Pensus resort contract: December 7, 2012
Dueling Napa Register Letters To The Editor
• Return Lake Berryessa to the taxpayers: March 2, 2001
• Don’t Blame Resorts For Sewage Problems: March 5, 2001
• What to do with Lake Berryessa? November 12, 2001
• Don't attack Berryessa resorts: December 4, 2001
• Mobile home owners want to make Berryessa a better place: December 12, 2001
• Give public access to Berryessa: February 20, 2002
• Berryessa doesn't need motor boats: Febrary 7, 2002
• Trailer ownership at Lake Berryessa defended: March 1, 2002
• Bring Berryessa back to nature: March 3, 2003
• Return Berryessa to natural state: March 18, 2003
• Reintroduce Berryessa to California: March 27, 2003
• Beware federal Berryessa plan: April 3, 2003 150
• Ask for what you want at Berryessa: April 16, 2003
• Don't let feds destroy Berryessa homes: April 24, 2003
• Don't forget the good at Berryessa: August 20, 2003
• Lake plan should keep mobile homes: August 21, 2003
• Trailer sewage is exaggerated (and already resolved): August 24, 2003
• Lakeside trailers are eyesores: September 16, 2003
• Private access to Berryessa is wrong: September 16, 2003
• Private trailers - Get off our land: September, 2003
• What to look for in Berryessa plan: September 7, 2003
• Return Berryessa to the public: December 15, 2003
• Work together on Lake Berryessa: December 8, 2003
• A critical view of Kunze: January 5, 2004
• Keep Berryessa mobile homes: January 16, 2004
• Open access to Berryessa: April 22, 2004
• Drop enviro-elitism at Lake Berryessa: March 13, 2005
• Berryessa economics don't add up: March 27, 2005
• Will there be a future for Lake Berryessa? March 30, 2005
• Still time to save the lake: March 10, 2005
• Lake Berryessa misconceptions: March 11, 2005
• Public has plenty of lake access: March 30, 2005
• Bureau working to improve Berryessa: May 10, 2005
• Get the facts on Lake Berryessa: May 27, 2005
• Sierra Club, politicians ruining life at the lake: November 19, 2005
• Transparency at the lake by Cong. Thompson: November 23, 2005
• Majority of residents and businesses oppose BOR plan: November 26, 2005
• Don't let the Bureau wreck Berryessa; September 19, 2006
• Give Berryessa folks consideration: January 27, 2007
• Resorts are backbone of lake: January 27, 2007
• Lake mobile home owners just want equal treatment: February 1, 2007
• The right move at Berryessa: February 1, 2007
• Children ask “Why'd they take our lake?” June 28, 2007
• Preparing for a new experience at the lake: July 6, 2007
• Bureau of Reclamation decision is unjust, divisive: July 17, 2007
• Bureau owes us all answers on Berryessa: November 13, 2008
• Lake fiasco proves government fails people: March 24, 2009
• The mess at the lake: March 28, 2009
• Flaws in Reclamation’s plans for the lake: April 24, 2009
• A bait and switch at Lake Berryessa: May 27, 2009
• A tremendous loss at the lake: July 31, 2009
• Stop the insanity at Berryessa: September 24, 2009
Anyone interested in the core historical Bureau of Reclamation documents for this process can find them at:
https://www.usbr.gov/mp/ccao/berryessa/vsp/docs-forms/index.html
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