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Tulare Lake’s Ghostly Rebirth Brings Wonder — and Hardship. Inside a Community’s Resilience

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Robert Gauthier and Melissa Gomez

In the lowlands of the San Joaquin Valley, last winter’s torrential storms revived an ancient body of water drained and dredged decades ago, its clay lakebed transformed into a powerhouse of industrial agriculture. Rivers swollen with biblical amounts of rainfall overwhelmed the network of levees and irrigation canals that weave through the basin diverting water for farm and livestock use. Tulare Lake, once the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River, was reborn, swallowing thousands of acres cultivated for tomatoes and cotton and vast orchards of almond and pistachio trees.

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Reborn From Record Winter, Tulare Lake Could See Explosive Growth From Snowmelt

/in , , /by /CBS Newsby Wilson Walker

Tulare Lake has sprung back to life, its shoreline rapidly expanding from the runoff of a winter of epic rainstorms and the melting of the massive southern Sierra snowpack.

The lake, which has been mostly dry for decades, now covers miles of rich farmland and is threatening to overwhelm nearby communities.

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California’s Reappearing Phantom Lake Could Remain for Two Years in the Central Valley

/in , , /by /CNBCby Emma Newburger

Satellite images taken over the past several weeks show a dramatic resurrection of Tulare Lake in California’s Central Valley and the flooding that could remain for as long as two years across previously arid farmland.

The satellite imagery, provided by the Earth imaging company Planet Labs, show the transition from a dry basin to a wide and deep lake running about ten miles from bank to bank on land used to grow almonds, tomatoes, cotton and other crops.

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As Epic Snow Melts, A California Community Braces for Floods

/in , , /by /AP Newsby Amy Taxin and Jae C. Hong

Ron Caetano is packed and ready to go. His family photos and valuables are in the trailer and he’s put food in carry totes. He moved the rabbits and chickens and their automatic feeders to higher ground.

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Fears Grow as Floodwaters Threaten to Drown This California City and Prison Complex

/in , , /by /LA Timesby Jessica Garrison, Susanne Rust, Ian James

Just west of this normally dusty prison town, a civic nightmare is unfolding: Tulare Lake, a body of water that did not exist just two months ago, now stretches to the horizon — a vast, murky sea in which the tops of telephone poles can be seen stretching eerily into the distance.

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Opinion: Increasing Temperatures Increase California Flood Risk

/in , /by /CalMattersby Dan Walters

California was experiencing a series of major rain and snow storms in January when Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a 2023-24 state budget.

Tucked into one of the budget’s hundreds of pages of detail was this paragraph:

“San Joaquin Valley Flood Plain Restoration – A reduction of $40 million General Fund in 2023-24, which eliminates funding for this purpose.”

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Opinion: Is the San Diego-Imperial Model Part of the Solution for Colorado River Woes?

/in , , , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Michael Smolens Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

In a sense, the record string of storms that hit California created two lakes — one real and one hypothetical.

The deluges re-established Tulare Lake, once the largest lake west of the Mississippi River that was drained long ago for agriculture and municipal water demands.

Meanwhile, the state’s record snowpack, according to the Los Angeles Times, holds enough water to fill the depleted Lake Mead on the Colorado River. Of course, that’s not where the runoff goes.

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Worry and Suspicion Reign as Once-Dry Tulare Lake Drowns California Farmland

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James and Susanne Rust

Sixth Avenue used to cut through miles of farmland. Now, the road has disappeared under muddy water, its path marked by sodden telephone poles that protrude from the swelling lake. Water laps just below the windows of a lone farmhouse that sits alongside the submerged route.

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