Lake Berryessa News

(4/27/26)

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April Fools' Month 2026 Comes to an End!

This is the last issue in our April Fools' Month 2026 series. We review some of the "good ole days" of the original Darwin Awards. But wait, there’s more! The advent of AI (artificial Intelligence) has added a whole new dimension to the amplification and implementation of stupidity, the AI Darwin Awards.

Non-AI 2017 Awards.
https://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2017.html

For a story to qualify for the original awards, it must meet five strict rules:

Inability to Reproduce: The candidate must be dead or rendered sterile.

Excellence: An astounding misapplication of judgment.

Self-Selection: The candidate must be the cause of their own demise.

Maturity: The candidate must be of sound mind (not a child or mentally impaired)

Veracity: The story must be verified by reputable sources.

Sample story: A welder is in the evolutionary spotlight. Vargas (pseudonym) worked for a construction company in Tselinnoe, Kazakhstan when he noticed how well a fire extinguisher fits into a decommissioned artillery howitzer. Inspired, he stuffed the fire extinguisher down the barrel...

Trained to use the elemental powers of hot plasma, welders are normally not daredevils, but Vargus was determined to prove the old adage, 'There are old welders and bold welders, but there are no old, bold welders.' He charged the cannon with calcium carbide and water, a reactive combination that produces acetylene welding gas...

The abused fire extinguisher exploded from the howitzer cannon, and pieces of the payload brained the welder--whose head was conveniently located in the ballistic trajectory of the shrapnel. In a fight between shrapnel and an empty skull, shrapnel wins.
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AI Darwin Awards

https://aidarwinawards.org/winners-2025.html

Champions of Catastrophically Bad AI Decisions: Welcome to our prestigious hall of fame, where we celebrate the visionaries who looked at artificial intelligence and thought, "Safety protocols are just suggestions!" These brave pioneers have set the gold standard for what not to do with cutting-edge technology. Each year, our distinguished panel of judges (and occasionally rogue AI systems) selects the most spectacularly ill-advised uses of artificial intelligence. The winners represent the finest examples of human overconfidence meeting machine learning—with predictably disastrous results.

The original Darwin Awards celebrated those who "improved the gene pool by removing themselves from it" through spectacularly stupid acts. Well, guess what? Humans have evolved! We're now so advanced that we've outsourced our poor decision-making to machines. The AI Darwin Awards proudly continues this noble tradition by honoring the visionaries who looked at artificial intelligence - a technology capable of reshaping civilization - and thought, "You know what this needs? Less safety testing and more venture capital". These brave pioneers remind us that natural selection isn't just for biology anymore; it's gone digital, and it's coming for our entire species.

Because why stop at individual acts of spectacular stupidity when you can scale them to global proportions with machine learning? Nominees must demonstrate a breathtaking commitment to ignoring obvious risks:

AI Involvement Required: Must involve cutting-edge artificial intelligence (or what theyconfidently called "AI" in their investor pitch deck).

Catastrophic Potential: The decision must be so magnificently short-sighted that future historians will use it as a cautionary tale (assuming there are any historians left).

Ethical Blind Spots: Demonstrated ability to completely ignore every red flag raised by ethicists, safety researchers, and that one intern who keeps asking uncomfortable
questions.

Scale of Ambition: Why endanger just yourself when you can endanger everyone? We particularly appreciate nominees who aimed for global impact on their first try.

Our distinguished panel of judges (and the occasional rogue AI) evaluates nominees based on:

Measurable Impact: Bonus points if your AI mishap made international headlines, crashed markets, or required new legislation named aft

Creative Destruction: We appreciate innovative approaches to endangering humanity. Cookie-cutter robot uprisings need not apply.

Viral Stupidity: Did your AI blunder become a meme? Did it spawn a thousand think pieces? Did it make AI safety researchers weep openly?

Unintended Consequences: The best nominees never saw it coming. "But the AI was supposed to help!" is music to our ears.

Doubling Down: Extra recognition for those who, when confronted with evidence of their mistake, decided to deploy even more AI to fix it.

Hubris Bonus Points: Extra credit for statements like "What's the worst that could happen?" or "The AI knows what it's doing!" And the winner is:

The Undisputed Champion (Double Gold) - Tesla Full Self-Driving Car

Selected unanimously by our adjudication process and confirmed as the public favorite,

Tesla FSD is the undisputed champion of 2025. It is the rare nominee that manages to terrify both PhD researchers and the average commuter equally. Tesla's Full Self-Driving software approached railway crossings—complete with flashing lights, descending barriers, and approaching multi-thousand-ton locomotives—and consistently concluded these were mere suggestions rather than urgent physics-based imperatives. This wasn't a one-off glitch; it was a systematic failure to comprehend the most basic rule of transportation: trains always win.

"This represents everything wrong with deploying undertested AI in safety-critical systems. The technology can navigate complex urban environments but fails at the Bronze Age concept of 'don't argue with objects significantly larger than you.' It's the perfect demonstration of how Silicon Valley's 'move fast and break things' philosophy becomes
significantly less charming when the things being broken include your spine." — Senior Adjudicator, AI Darwin Awards

Why This Won:
Visceral Terror: Nothing says AI overconfidence like negotiating with freight trains.

Systematic Failure: Multiple documented incidents across different locations and conditions.

Physics Ignorance: Spectacular misunderstanding of inertia, momentum, and mortality.

Video Evidence: Dashcam footage ensuring nobody could dismiss it as hearsay.

Regulatory Wake-Up Call: Prompted actual government intervention, always a good sign

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Who Says Weather Reporters Can't Be Sensationalists Too?

Is a "Super" El Niño Coming in 2026? Here’s What Scientists Are Saying
by Simmone Shah - Time Magazine

Scientists still aren’t sure whether an El Niño is certain this year, but the likelihood is increasing, with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicting on April 9 a 61% chance of an El Niño, and a one in four chance that it might be strong. (Lake Berryessa News Editor's Note: Actually it's definitely a 50/50 chance - it either will happen or it won't happen!)
 
The prediction comes on the heels of record-setting weather. January through March of this year was the driest on record in the United States, while Europe experienced its second-warmest March on record. The Copernicus Climate Change Service confirmed that March had its second-warmest global sea surface temperature on record, further indicating the possibility for El Niño conditions to form later this year.
 
A strong El Niño, colloquially referred to as a “super El Niño” occurs when average sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific rise at least 2°C. El Niño occurs when warm water that's built up in the West Pacific sloshes to the east and replaces that normally cold water with warmer water. And a super El Niño condition is when that warmer water basically erases the cold tongue.
 
A strong El Niño year can typically mean a quieter Atlantic hurricane season, but could bring more hurricanes to the Central Pacific. The summer monsoon season in South Asia could be weaker, and the fall and winter could bring drought conditions to parts of the Amazon and Australia. In the U.S., parts of the South might see more rain and cooler temperatures, while the northern areas could experience warmer-than-average temperatures.
 
Strong El Niños can alter weather patterns for years. A December 2025 study found that a super El Niño year can trigger “climate regime shifts”—sudden and persistent changes in a climate system that pose serious threats to ecosystems and human well-being, and a warming world would make them a more frequent occurrence. The researchers found that after the 2015-16 super El Niño, the Gulf of Mexico reached a new sustained level of warmth that might have contributed to stronger hurricanes along the Gulf Coast in the following years.

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In a fond farewell to April Fool's Month, here are a few more jokes. I would like to try the Omaha Steaks Pocket Steaks or Baskin Robbins Ice Cream Soup!

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Paul Franson's weekly Napa Valley Life is jam-packed with interesting information about Napa Valley events and out-and abouts. His links to the ubiquitous food truck culture makes my mouth water.
Find the pdf version at www.napalife.org/7556.pdf.
 
Find the web version at www.napalife.org/7556.html.
 
Where is what food truck?
 
It’s very challenging to keep track of the many food trucks in our community, and it’s not just because they have wheels. They change their offerings, disappear for private events and move to different locations. It’s so challenging that I’m happy to see a new website that tracks them.

See www.napafoodtrucks.com.

We also have a list with useful information at www.napalife.org/foodtrucks.pdf.

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Glory Hole Watch 2026 has slowed. For historical perspective, watch Evan Kilkus' Lake Berryessa News drone videos of the dramatic rise of Lake Berryessa as it finally spilled over Glory Hole on 2/16/17 after an 11-year drought at:

https://youtu.be/bGJvofIyTwQ   1/11/17: 10"+ of Rain Takes Its Toll, But Lake Berryessa is Rising 
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https://youtu.be/PRWAfVw9DBU    2/10/17: Lake Berryessa Is Almost Full
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https://youtu.be/8pIPsgLFggk   2/12/17: Lake Berryessa Splashes Over Glory Hole -With a Little Help

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https://youtu.be/EH0LQW7iduY  2/12/17: Breathtakingly Beautiful Drone Tour of Lake Berryessa
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https://youtu.be/cB0BKIm1EzM 2/16/17: Lake Berryessa Is Full &Splashing Over the Spillway
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https://youtu.be/uQp0QConILY 2/18/17: Lake Berryessa Is Spilling 1 Foot Over Glory Hole
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Original ACDC version of: 2/18/17: Lake Berryessa Is Spilling 1 Foot Over Glory Hole
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https://youtu.be/-iHAjOrrU4k 2/21/17: Lake Berryessa is 3.5' OVER the Glory Hole Spillway
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https://youtu.be/qhPzR2Gqzs0 2/24/17: Another Breathtaking Drone Tour of a Full Lake Berryessa

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Track the real-time Lake Berryessa weather at:
 
 
Skiers Cove (Below the Berryessa Highlands)
Skier Cove - KCANAPA228
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KCANAPA228
 
East Side Road (Across from Big Island)
East Side Road, Lake Berryessa - KCALAKEB2
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KCALAKEB2
 
Spanish Flat (Near the Spanish Flat Recreation Area)
Roger - KCASPANI1
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KCASPANI1
 
Berryessa Pines
KCANAPA461
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KCANAPA461
 

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Lake Berryessa Fire Watch Cameras

This site covers the whole Lake Berryessa Region.

http://www.rntl.net/lake-berryessa-cams/

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Free Book Chapters Available For Download

My sincere thanks to those of you who contributed to the future of the Lake Berryessa News. I challenge you to find any Lake Berryessa news anywhere. Hopefully, the many years of our intensive reporting about the latest Lake Berryessa issues will convince you of the truth of our motto, "Without The Lake Berryessa News there would be no Lake Berryessa news".

Here's a gift from The Lake Berryessa News to my readers - Free downloadable chapters from my books:


Lake Berryessa Technical Manual: The Science, Engineering, History, and Humor of a Major Unnatural Resource:

The Death of a Valley

Why Does Lake Berryessa Exist?

The Lake Berryessa Watershed

Rainfall and Lake Level History

How High Is Lake Berryessa?

How Deep is Lake Berryessa?

How Much Water Does Lake Berryessa Hold?

Mean Sea Level: Is There Such A Thing As Accurate Height?

Water In, Water Out, But From Where?

Does the WALROS Like Lake Berryessa?

Why is Lake Berryessa Not a Part of the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument?

East Side Story

Hiking and Wildlife Viewing

Are There Quail on Quail Ridge?

Why Does A Hiker Cross The Road? To Get To Stebbins Cold Canyon!

Private Houseboats - Yes; Private RVs & Trailers - No: Why?

Motorized Boats Banned From Big Island Lagoon! Why!

Archeologists Can't Dunk But Can Dig

What Can't You Do At Lake Berryessa?

Napa Opposes Building the Monticello Dam

Monticello Dam Construction
Raise Monticello Dam

Power Generation at Monticello Dam

Monticello Dam Failure Analysis

Predicting the Future & Glory Hole Drone Videos

As Lake Berryessa Turns!

The Ins and Outs & Ups and Downs of Lake Berryessa

Does Lake Berryessa Sweat in the Summer?

Glory Hole Introduction

How Does Glory Hole Work?

Glory Hole: Awesome, Frightening, But Dangerous?

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Lake Berryessa Political History (Free Downloads of Book Chapters)

Policy And Politics Betray The People: The Lake Berryessa Saga: 1958 - 2020, By Peter Kilkus

 
I. The Five Tragedies Of The Berryessa Valley: A History Of Heartbreak
 
II. Lake Berryessa Political History Timeline
 
III. The “Big Lie”: How It All Began
 
IV. The “Big Fail”: Napa Abandons Lake Berryessa (1975)
 
V. The “Big Picture”: Lake Berryessa Issues: 1957 - 2012
 
VI. The “Big Illusion”: Notice Of Intent
 
VII. The “Big Fight”: Facts Do Matter
 
VIII. The “Big Betrayal”: Perversion Of Public Law 96-375
 
IX. The “Big Mistake”: Pensus - The Beginning Was The End!
 
X. The “Big Hole In History”: Post-Pensus Blues
 
XI. The “Big Boondoggle”: Creation Of A Phony National Monument
 
Addendum 1. Dueling Napa Register Letters To The Editor
 
Addendum 2. The Napa Register View
 
Index Of  Primary Documents

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Lake Berryessa Technical Manual: The Science, Engineering, History, and Humor of a Major Unnatural Resource

 https://www.amazon.com/Lake-Berryessa-Technical-Manual-Engineering-ebook/dp/B0C21DZ9M9/ref=sr_1_3?

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Policy and Politics Betray the People: The Lake Berryessa Saga: 1958 - 2020
https://www.amazon.com/Policy-Politics-Betray-People-Berryessa-ebook/dp/B08MFSQDBR/ref=sr_1_1?
 
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Conspiracy Theory or Automatic Pilot: The Economic Roots of Environmental Destruction

 https://www.amazon.com/Conspiracy-Theory-Automatic-Pilot-Environmental/dp/1676368302/ref=sr_1_3?


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The KPIX Eye on the Bay interview below is one I did in 2010 and a relevant introduction to the substance of the book. I did it after Pensus had been given the contract for 5 resorts. As we all know Pensus was subsequently kicked out in 2012. 

https://youtu.be/nP9K8Ai0Lkc

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Lake Berryessa Data Sources

There are many sources of Lake Berryessa water and weather conditions available. The Solano County Water Agency site is good for real-time graphs of level, capacity, and water temperature. The California Data Exchange Center has data going back decades for level, capacity, capacity change, dam outflow, dam inflow, and rainfall. Anyone can research their own data and create custom charts. This is the source of many of the charts on the Lake Berryessa News website.

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An upgraded wildfire alert camera system will be keeping watch on Napa County day and night and notifying Cal Fire crews of potential fires. Twenty cameras will be part of a system that will use artificial intelligence and other technologies to identify fire and smoke. If they detect something, an alert will sound in the Cal Fire emergency command center near St. Helena.

Cal Fire has made a large investment into the ALERTCalifornia system, partnering with UC San Diego. There are 1,000 cameras across the state and Napa County is one of the test models. Cameras can see 60 miles during the day, and this can increase to 120 miles on clear nights, with the changes in the air. The system can differentiate among smoke, clouds and dust. A link to this camera system and other relevant weather data is available on the Lake Berryessa News website at: http://www.rntl.net/lake-berryessa-cams/

This website was created by Doug Kunst. It is an amazing resource for Lake Berryessa fire cameras and weather. His business website is http://www.rntl.net/

Lake Berryessa Fire Alert Cameras

http://www.rntl.net/lake-berryessa-cams/

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 Real-Time Lake Level, Lake Capacity, Water Temperature
 
Solano County Water Agency
 
https://www.scwamonitoring.com/LakeBerryessa/
 
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Lake Detailed Historical Data
 
California Data Exchange Center
 
https://cdec.water.ca.gov/
 
Research historical data and create custom plots
 
Lake Berryessa Code: BER
 
https://cdec.water.ca.gov/dynamicapp/sensorplots?staid=ber&dur_code=D
 
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Local Weather Stations (Weather Underground Network)
 
Skiers Cove (Below the Berryessa Highlands)
Skier Cove - KCANAPA228
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KCANAPA228
 
East Side Road (Across from Big Island)
East Side Road, Lake Berryessa - KCALAKEB2
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KCALAKEB2
 
Spanish Flat (Near the Spanish Flat Recreation Area)
Roger - KCASPANI1
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KCASPANI1