At one time Tulare Lake was the biggest freshwater lake in the West. Over time, California's agricultural needs drained it away, leaving behind verdant farmland. Then came the winter of 2022-2023 and its massive storms, piling snow on Golden State mountaintops and inundating the lowlands. Tulare Lake returned to something approximating its former glory, reports the Guardian, flooding Kings County cotton, pistachio, and tomato farms. According to the New York Times, Tulare Lake now covers approximately 168 square miles (about the size of Lake Tahoe) and is easily large enough to track via satellite imagery. And while what the Times calls "climate-amplified sheets of rain" brought the lake back, it has persisted due to the Sierra Nevada mountains' massive snow melt.
The Guardian notes that while fish have returned with the water and birds are settling in marshy zones, Tulare Lake isn't for swimmers or boaters. Nate Ferrier of the Kings County Sheriff's Department tells the outlet that since the flooded areas are farmland, "you've got diesel fuel, oil, manure, chemicals used to kill bugs and stuff." That's in addition to potentially dangerous electrical lines. Local law enforcement have been busy trying to keep people away from the water. Still, the Times reports that Californians are flocking to the new lake shores to take selfies and test its use for pursuits like kayaking.
"The water's going to be here for a while," Kings County Sheriff David Robinson tells ABC News. The best guess is that it will take two years for the lake to fully disappear. However, it appears to have reached its peak. Near the end of June, California Governor Gavin Newsom's office issued a news release stating that "favorable weather conditions" have helped put the brakes on the Sierra Nevada snowmelt, and "new data [shows] that Tulare Lake has begun receding." (More California stories.)
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