The Resurrection of Tulare Lake: How California's Record Snowpack is Bringing Back a Lost Treasure
Tulare Lake was once the largest body of freshwater west of the Mississippi River and covered over 1,200 square miles.
Tulare Lake was home to tule elk & antelope, & Yoku hunters fished for salmon, perch, & sturgeon on rafts & canoes made from thick tule reeds.
Owing to runoff from several rivers draining into the valley & the state’s record snowpack melting, Tulare Lake has reappeared for the first time since 1997.
As the snow melts, the flooding will only increase over the next few months, dousing the area with the equivalent of 60 inches of rain.
The powerful agriculture industry of the region has compounded the flood risk around the lake by pumping enormous amounts of subterranean groundwater, turning the region into a giant bowl.
The powerful agriculture industry of the region has compounded the flood risk around the lake by pumping enormous amounts of subterranean groundwater, turning the region into a giant bowl.
The basin’s aquifer is overdrawn by the farmers by around 820,000 acre-feet per year, far more water than Los Angeles consumes over the same period.
There is an incidence of subsidence throughout California, but the problem is at its worst in the area around Tulare Lake, which is about 200 miles north of L.A.
During the past half-century, some cities near the lakebed have sunk by as much as 11 feet, making homes & crops in the basin much more vulnerable to flooding than when the lake last appeared 35 years ago.
As the land subsides, the levees & channels that control flooding are becoming less effective.
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