Not an optical illusion and not a natural phenomenon: an impressive hole appeared in a lake in California

In the Lake Berryessa reservoir above the Monticello Dam, a hole has appeared in the water - a huge whirlpool into which water flows in huge volumes. Tourists are already coming here, reports tech24tv.

Photo: Shutterstock

This object is man-made. He is part of the dam. If the water level in the reservoir rises too much, the excess volume begins to drain into this huge trough, usually elevated above the water surface.

What happens if you fall inside

The diverter was built to control water flows in the 1950s instead of the traditional lateral one. In a narrow gap of rocks called the Devil's Gate, where the dam is located, there is simply nowhere to draw a side spillway. Therefore, the engineers settled on a variant of the drain, similar to the one that can be seen in a conventional bath. The structure is a huge pipe with an exit outside the dam - such is used to dump excess water not only here, but also in other places around the world. However, this particular object is for some reason very popular among viewers. During the rainy season, spectators come to see it and take pictures.

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In 2017, rich in precipitation, hundreds of spectators gathered on the observation deck to see a gaping hole in the middle of the water surface.

In 2019, after another season of heavy rains, the spectacle was repeated and attracted thousands of people.

In the same year, the dam hit the American news because a cormorant was sucked into the pipe. Some media wrote that he survived.

This should not happen to a person. First of all, because the reservoir is surrounded by a fence and is under protection. Swimming or boating is prohibited. In addition, people are able to easily overcome the force of the current of the drain, even in the high season. The only human death occurred here in 1997, when a woman managed to swim up to the structure and held on to the edge for about 20 minutes, but slipped away before the rescue team arrived.
The hole may look creepy, but dam workers claim that the speed of the water in it is not so high. Every second, a drain 22 meters wide and 75 meters deep can absorb about 1360 cubic meters of water. After entering the hole, the water ends up in a narrower pipe leading to the Puta stream.

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In the 1950s, engineers built it with the expectation that it would be needed once every 50 years in special cases, but in the last 20 years, work has already been required three times. According to the media, this is evidence of climate change on the planet.

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