California Activates Gigantic Glory Hole
- Editor OGN Daily
- Mar 31
- 1 min read
California has finally done it. For the first time in six years, the "glory hole" has been activated.
Please, people. There's no innuendo here. We're referring to the spillway in the North Bay's Lake Berryessa, a reservoir next to the Monticello Dam. "It's called a glory hole spillway. That's really what the engineers called it and we shortened it to glory hole," local historian, scientist, and journalist Peter Kilkus told CBS News.
The drain's actual name is no less suggestive: the Morning Glory Hole spillway. So, what is it?In a nutshell, it's an enormous 70-feet wide drain - or "passive spillway," in the technical nomenclature. Whenever the water levels in the dammed-off lake exceed 440 feet, the water spills into the drain, directing overflow into an underground discharge channel.
While in action, the "glory hole" looks almost otherworldly, like some portal to a magical aquatic realm - or maybe a glitch in our ever-crumbling reality simulation.
Why is this good news? Well, the last time the reservoir's water level required its use was in 2019. Since then water levels have been too low to need it, until this year's "blissfully" wet winter.
Want to see it in action?