By Lucia R. Levers, with special thanks to her brother, Paul D. Levers
. . .
I love this time of year. I’m sure the air above the reservoir is getting crisp, not that I have any use for crisp air anymore. But I can see that the people are getting closer. The rest of the year they are just blurs on the surface, but when the water levels drop as summer winds down, they start to come into focus.
A little girl floats by in an inner tube, an adult trailing behind her, both faces glued to strange glowing devices in their hands. They are so transfixed, I doubt either would notice if I gave one of the tubes a jolt. Tempting. Why come out to Silverwood Lake if you won’t even look up to really see it? I shake my head and lean back in my chair, the sign for George’s Market drifting lazily in the current above me. Hmm… I will leave them be. Was I like that before? So oblivious that I barely noticed the things around me? I try to think back to when I spent my time on the water instead of in it , but a blackfish swims right through my chest, startling me, and I lose my train of thought. The little urchin jerks around erratically, as they always do when they swim into me, then darts away. I’ve always wondered what it feels like to touch a ghost.
Once, when I was traveling up the Sacramento River to visit Kennett, I swear a winter-run salmon stared right at me, before slowing down and swerving to avoid me. Could the fish have seen me? Kennett is bigger than my drowned hometown of Cedar Springs; it might be the biggest town in Drowned California, come to think of it. But I’m not sure. Drowned California has a lot of towns – there is one under practically every reservoir in the state. Remnants of places and life that were there before the floods. We even have some ghosts on drowned ships, like on the SS Tahoe, which is even older than me! But anyway, that salmon… I tried to talk about it with a former kayaker, another ghost. Figured she might know something, as much time as she had spent on the water. She thought that maybe because the salmon was endangered, their whole species dancing on the edge of the abyss, it wasn’t much of a stretch to see a ghost. Come to think of it, the folks up in Kennett did tell me they had some white sturgeon as pets. I thought they were pulling one of their tricks on me; but sturgeon aren’t too common anymore either, so maybe not. A lot about Drowned California is in the mist.
That kayaker doesn’t know how she ended up as one of our citizens; none of us really do. We didn’t drown when our cities did – it seems like everyone was moved out before the waters rose. Personally, I think maybe if you loved the water enough in life, you somehow find your way to Drowned California afterward. My friend, a kindred spirit from Whiskeytown, used to be some kind of water scientist. She definitely loves Drowned California, spending her time, an eternity, in fact, examining the underwater world and never “writing another grant proposal”, whatever that means. Either way, seems like most of us ghosts had some connection to the water and aren’t too miserable being stuck down here. At least that is what I tell myself.
We get new citizens throughout the year, but we always get the most appearing on Halloween. Again, none of us really know why, and they never remember. Perhaps the lack of memory is a parting gift from the realm of the living. Why is Halloween important? Were they here at the reservoirs, or somewhere else entirely? Or were they just people who really loved the water? Don’t know. But I will say that every year a lot of confused ghosts show up throughout Drowned California wearing outdoor gear. That’s the real fun of Halloween. I love cutting a fishing line here and there, but it’s nothing compared to chasing a fresh spectre around the town square.
This year, Halloween has brought more than the usual kerfuffle. We are probably getting a new town for the first time in ages – Sites. Bah! There are too many towns in Drowned California as it is! The last addition was after New Melones was built, in what, the 70s? 80s? We figure with the Halloween citizen rush, we should start to get a collection of spirits together for Sites, even though it won’t be drowned for another year or so, or whenever they build the Sites Reservoir. Unwanted or not, can’t have an empty town.
Sorry, I digress. Eternity underwater gives you plenty of time, maybe too much, to pontificate. My scientist friend told me about the California WaterBlog and asked me to get the word out about Drowned California. What is a blog anyway? Some kind of periodical broadcast over the radio that you read? Things seemed to have changed a lot since I could float. So, per my effort at public service, we are down here, watching. And, if you don’t want to help Drowned California grow our population, maybe be careful this Halloween out on the water.. But if you do end up here, don’t worry. Well, perhaps you should worry a bit; many of the dams keeping our towns submerged are at risk. Maybe this Bloog…Blog?… can help get our current dams fixed up instead of more being built.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, those people on tubes are back, and the little girl is drifting farther and farther away from the grown-up. I used to have a kid sister; she never liked the water. I wonder whatever happened to her. Does that little girl’s inner tube have a leak? She’s still not paying attention. I suppose I better go give her a nudge back to shore.
The Real Drowned California
While the story above is fiction (or is it…), there truly is a Drowned California – underwater remains of villages, towns, sacred sites, burial areas, roads, bridges, train tunnels, and more flooded by dams and other waterworks throughout California’s long history of controlling water flows.
Inundated towns include Winneman Wintu Villages and Kennett under Shasta Lake (Dadigan, 2022; Mangas, 2022), Cedar Springs under Silverwood Lake (Landis, 2019), Monticello under Lake Berryessa (Lanzendorfer, 2019), and Millerton under Millerton Lake (McAndrew, 2022). Many more flooded sites exist throughout California (Rockwell, 2026).
The removal of dams along the Klamath River exposed previously flooded places like the Shasta Villages that were once under Copco Lake (Alexander, 2024), while the proposed Sites Reservoir will flood new areas including the town of Sites and cultural sites and burial areas of the Grindstone Indian Rancheria of Wintun-Wailaki Indians, Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians, Cachil Dehe Band of Wintun, Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation, and the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation (Sites Project Authority & U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 2023).
Along with environmental and ecological damages, the tremendous changes dams bring to the local areas, towns, and tribes are astounding.
Lake Berryessa, close to UC Davis, is a well-documented example of this. Berryessa Valley, flooded in 1956 after the construction of Monticello Dam, inundated dozens of cultural sites of Patwin tribes including the Yocha Dehe Wintun, Kletsel Dehe, and Cachil Dehe (CDFG, 2005; USBR, 2003; USBR, 2005). Remains of at least seven native people have been found when water receded (NPS, 2020; NPS, 2024). The valley was also home to the town of Monticello, the subject of a photo essay, The Death of a Valley, by photographer Dorothea Lange and Pirkle Jones. Monticello residents were forced to leave, along with the dead from the town’s cemetery.
If you are interested in learning more about Drowned California, some famous spots include Shasta Lake (Mangas, 2022), Whiskeytown National Recreation Area (National Park Service, 2026), Emerald Bay State Park (California State Parks, n.d.-a), and Folsom Lake State Recreation Area (California State Parks, n.d.-b). You can find more locations and information on Calexplornia (Rockwell, 2026).
About the Authors
Lucia R. Levers is an environmental scientist and economist for USDA’s Sustainable Agricultural Water Systems Unit and the Center for Watershed Sciences at UC Davis.
Paul D. Levers is a Deputy District Attorney for the Consumer and Environmental Protection Unit in San Bernardino County.
Kallan Ritzman is a Center for Watershed Sciences Lab Assistant in the Levers Lab and an ORISE intern for USDA’s Sustainable Agricultural Water Systems Unit at UC Davis.
Further Reading
Alexander, K. (2024, February 22). As massive California dam removal project nears completion, who gets the once submerged land? San Francisco Chronicle. https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/klamath-dam-land-tribes-18651607.php
California Department of Fish and Game. (2005). Cedar Roughs Wildlife Area management plan (p. 16). https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=84911
California State Parks. (n.d.-a). Emerald Bay State Park. https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=506
California State Parks. (n.d.-b). Folsom Lake State Recreation Area. https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=500
Dadigan, M. (2022, September 18). Building Shasta Dam flooded out a California tribe. Why are they still not included in the dam’s history? Shasta Scout. https://shastascout.org/building-shasta-dam-flooded-out-a-california-tribe-why-arent-they-included-in-the-dams-history/
Eastman, Jervie Henry. (1946). Shasta Lake. Retrieved October 22, 2026, from https://digital.ucdavis.edu/item/ark:/13030/tf2v19n89d
Google. (2026). [Google Maps view of Silverwood Lake, California]. Retrieved October 22, 2026, from https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=34.28378%2C-117.33109
Jones, P. (1956-a). Berryessa Reservoir, Dorothea Lange, John Dixon and his son with Pirkle’s Plymouth [Photograph]. Ruth-Marion Baruch and Pirkle Jones photographs, Special Collections & Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz. https://digitalcollections.library.ucsc.edu/Documents/Detail/berryessa-reservoir-dorothea-lange-john-dixon-and-his-son-with-pirkles-plymouth/41073
Jones, P. (1956-b). Cemetery removal [Photograph]. Ruth-Marion Baruch and Pirkle Jones photographs, Special Collections & Archives, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz. https://digitalcollections.library.ucsc.edu/Documents/Detail/cemetery-removal/41120
Kenneth Mammoth Mine Collection. (c. 1910). Kenneth, Ca. Retrieved October 22, 2026, from https://archives.csuchico.edu/digital/collection/coll11/id/16097
Landis, M. (2019, December 11).This San Bernardino Mountains community was swallowed by a lake. The San Bernardino Sun. https://www.sbsun.com/2019/12/11/this-san-bernardino-mountains-community-was-swallowed-by-a-lake/
Lanzendorfer, J. (2019, December 16). Lost beneath Lake Berryessa. Alta Journal. https://www.altaonline.com/dispatches/a5701/lake-berryessa-dorothea-lange/
Mangas, M. (2022, July 19). Local author publishes new book about “Kennett: The town under Shasta Lake”. KRCR. https://krcrtv.com/news/local/local-author-publishes-new-book-about-kennett-the-town-under-shasta-lake krcrtv.com
McAndrew, Dom. (2022, June 9). The forgotten underwater town at the bottom of a California lake. KTLA. https://ktla.com/news/california/the-forgotten-underwater-town-at-the-bottom-of-a-california-lake/
National Park Service. (2020, September 8). Notice of inventory completion: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Interior Region 10: California–Great Basin, Sacramento, CA (Document No. 2020-19703). Federal Register. https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2020-19703
National Park Service. (2024, July 19). Notice of intended disposition: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, Region 10: California–Great Basin, Sacramento, CA. Federal Register, 89, 58763–58764. https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2024-15897
National Park Service. (2026, May 11). Whiskeytown National Recreation Area. https://www.nps.gov/whis/index.htm
Rockwell, R. (2026, August 15). Underwater towns of California: A guide to California’s sunken communities. CalExplornia. https://www.calexplornia.com/underwater-towns-of-california-a-look-at-towns-buried-in-watery-graves/
Rypel, A. L., Parisek, C. A., Lund, J., Willis, A., Moyle, P. B., Yarnell, S., & Börk, K. (2023, May 28). What’s the dam problem with deadbeat dams? California WaterBlog. https://californiawaterblog.com/2023/05/28/whats-the-dam-problem-with-deadbeat-dams/ California WaterBlog
San Bernardino Historical and Pioneer Society (2026), Personal Communication.
Sites Project Authority, & U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. (2023). Chapter 23: Tribal cultural resources. In Sites Reservoir Project final environmental impact report/environmental impact statement. https://www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/includes/documentShow.php?Doc_ID=53757
U.S. Geological Survey. (1961). Cedar Springs, California [Topographic quadrangle map, 1:24,000; 1956 edition].
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. (n.d.). New Melones [Reservoir water data]. Retrieved October 30, 2026, from https://water.usace.army.mil/overview/spk/locations/new%20melones
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. (2003). Draft environmental impact statement for the Lake Berryessa Visitor Services Plan(Section 3.4.1, p. 122). U.S. Department of the Interior, Mid-Pacific Region. https://www.usbr.gov/mp/ccao/berryessa/vsp/docs-forms/deis/10-2003-draft-lake-berryessa.pdf
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. (2005). Future recreation use and operations of Lake Berryessa: Final environmental impact statement (Section 3.4.1, p. 116). https://www.lakeberryessanews.com/resources/References-PDFs/2005-Final-Environmental-Impact-Statement.pdf
Walter, J., Singer, G., Colborne, S., Rypel, A. L., & Tracy, E. (2026, March 22). Where the sturgeon go: How age-related differences in habitat use shape exposure of white sturgeon to population risks. California WaterBlog. https://californiawaterblog.com/2026/03/22/where-the-sturgeon-go-how-age-related-differences-in-habitat-use-shape-exposure-of-white-sturgeon-to-population-risks/ California WaterBlog
Leave a Reply