Prior to the construction of Monticello dam and the creation of the Lake in the 1950s, the Berryessa Valley was an agricultural paradise whose soils were considered among the finest in the country. Photographers Dorothea Lange and Pirkle Jones documented the forced abandonment of the town of Monticello in their book Death of a Valley. Residents left their homes, the Monticello cemetery had to be relocated, and houses were destroyed. Monticello ranchers were evicted as equipment was auctioned away and the fertile land destroyed and flooded. The dam provides irrigation water, flood protection and groundwater recharge for the local area. Lake Berryessa is considered the most dangerous lake in Northern California based on the number of boating accidents. One woman was killed in 1997 when she was sucked down the gloryhole spillway.