DROWNING of a TOWN
Goat Island in Lake Berryessa pokes up from the water like the crown of a hat. Beyond it, the hills are unusually triangular, coming to soft peaks instead of rolling mounds. Standing on the shore, I tried to imagine the island as it had been 62 years ago: not an island at all but the top of a hill. The lake is man-made, the result of a dam built across Putah Creek. The 1.6 million acre-feet of water cover a fertile valley and a town named Monticello.
The idea that there’s a town under a lake in Napa County, an hour-and-a-half drive from my house, was intriguing. Add to that the fact that Dorothea Lange, whose photographs humanized the Great Depression, shot a series on the flooding of the valley and the town, and I knew I had to see Lake Berryessa.
When we drove up to the lake, I was pleasantly surprised. Even though it was Memorial Day weekend, the beach wasn’t crowded. Children splashed in the water, and Canada geese bobbed near the shore. The park ranger greeted us with a list of freedoms. We could swim, boat, fish, and picnic here, he said. Parking was free. Have a good time.
Soon my husband, son, and I were gliding toward the island in our inflatable raft. In the distance, speedboats tore through the water, but the lake is large—23 miles by 3 miles—so the wake rarely disturbed our placid progress. I looked into the water as if I
