In 1800, Tulare Lake extended from over 790 to 1,000 square miles in California’s San Joaquin Valley and today’s Kings County—When it was a like. A phantom lake fills up seasonally and is dry at certain times of the year, appearing and reappearing, like a phantom. The southern end of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range flanks Tulare Lake on the east and sends snowmelt along with the rains and a few rivers to fill it up.
The Kings River supplied most of Tulare Lake’s water. Today, Tulare Lake is revenant, meaning one that returns after death or a long absence. Tulare Lake was a marshy lake lined with cattails, reeds, and rushes and only about 37-feet deep maximum and 20 to 30-feet deep on average. Oak woodlands and riparian forests emerged as green corridors on the prairie along the eastern edge of Tulare Basin.
Tulare Lake In The News
Joe Rogan and Donald Trump discussed the reappearance of Tulare Lake in California on Rogan’s October 26, 2024 podcast. They highlighted its reemergence as a result of heavy rainfall and snowmelt. The two discussed broader concerns about water management and environmental challenges in California.
Trump accentuated the broader more serious problems with California’s water policies. Rogan pointed out the historical significance of the lake. Farming settlers drained Tulare Lake for agriculture purposes in the late 19th century. Their conversation also reflected on how human interventions influence how natural events.
History of Tulare Lake
Tulare Lake sustained a tremendous maze complex of wetland ecosystems. Significant numbers of resident and migratory water birds nested by the thousands on this lake. When dry, Tulare Basin was a mixture of sloughs and permanent standing water, which supported the fish populations when it was full.
Tulare Lake historically filled up in the spring and early summer when the Sierra Nevada snowpack melted and flowed down the riverways and shrunk in the dry summer and fall seasons. European settlers moving into the area in the mid-1800s realized the rich soil bed when Tulare Lake was dry as ideal farmland.
Conversion of the Tulare Basin from a lake and slough wetland to agriculture lands began by building structures to divert water through canals. This process allowed settlers to irrigate crops but also slowly disconnected the lake from its inflowing waters. These diversion developments continued up until the mid-1900s and beyond. In 1899, Tulare Lake completely dried up for the first time in recorded history.
In 1899, settlers rushed to file claims on the “new” farmland, which was the Tulare Lake lakebed. Then, they began building the canals and modifying natural waterways upstream from Tulare Lake to irrigate their crops. Tulare Lake kept shrinking and was dry for most of the 20th century, except in 1938, 1955, 1969, 1983, and 1997. And for the first time in the 21st century, Tulare Lake comes alive in 2023.
When Tulare Lake flooded in 1938, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began building dams on Tulare Lake’s four primary rivers, the Kaweah, Kern, Kings, and Tule Rivers. The dams are: Terminus Dam (1953), Kaweah River, Isabella Dam (1953), Kern River, Pine Flat Dam (1954), Kings River, Courtright Dam (1958), a few miles downstream of Kings River, Wishon Dam (1958), Kings River, and Success Dam (1961), Tule River.
What Lake Reappeared After 100 Years in California?
Tulare Lake experienced a resurgence in early 2023. The southern end of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range flanks Tulare Lake on the east and sends snowmelt along with the rains and a few rivers to fill it up. In 2023, Tulare Lake grew to cover approximately 120,000 acres at its peak.
Tulare Lake sustained a tremendous maze complex of wetland ecosystems. Significant numbers of resident and migratory water birds nested by the thousands on this lake. When dry, Tulare Basin was a mixture of sloughs and permanent standing water, which supported the fish populations when it was full.
Is Tulare Lake Filling up Again in 2024?
Once the snowpack had melted and rains slowed, the summer heat began to evaporate the water, causing Tulare Lake to shrink once again. By May 2024, most of the lakebed had returned to agricultural use, with only a few damp areas remaining. Tulare Lake was expected to completely dry up during the 2024 summer months.
By June 2024, Tulare Lake did indeed vanish. Precipitation and snowmelt levels in early 2024 were above average in the Southern Sierra, which contributes runoff to the Tulare Lake Basin. This led to some sustained water levels in the area despite ongoing diversion efforts to manage flooding risks and receding waters from last year.
How Deep Is Tulare Lake Today?
While the exact depth on November 16, 2024, Lake Tulare’s depth is not specifically detailed, but the remaining water levels have been shallow, ranging between five to seven feet. By June 2024, most of Tulare Lake’s lakebed had only a few damp areas and returned to agricultural use.
Governor Gavin Newsom’s office released a Tulare Lake report on June 28, 2024. This updated report detailed the state’s flood management efforts, including water diversion and infrastructure improvements, which helped mitigate the impacts of flooding in the Tulare Lake Basin.
The Tulare Irrigation District (TID) held its Tuesday; November 12, 2024, board of directors meeting at its headquarters west of Tulare on Zoom. The Fall 2024 depth to groundwater map showed that groundwater ranges from 85 feet to about 235 feet below Tulare Lake’s lakebed.
A larger picture comes from a TID report that released this statement in their November 12, 2024, report,
TID General Manager Aaron said, “there is the ability to move surface water around to the deep spots and start evening out the depth and avoid subsidence. TID stated that, “The City of Tulare is pumping to the point of noticeable cones of depression.”
The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services released a report on September 24, 2024,
“As a method to expedite water dispersal, reclamation districts have been moving water from Tulare Lake to nearby farmlands within Kings County. Evaporation has also played a key role in reducing the flood waters.” However, Lake Tulare will definitely reappear when rainfall and snowmelt pour into the rivers and saturate the valley.
When Was the Last Time Tulare Lake Was Full?
The last time Tulare Lake was full to a significant degree was in 1983. It stayed in place for about two years. The lake reappears during unusually high levels of rainfall or snowmelt. It filled up to varying levels in 1938, 1942, 1955, 1969, 1983, 1997, 1998, and 2023.
When Tulare Lake flooded in 1938, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began building dams on Tulare Lake’s four primary rivers, the Kaweah, Kern, Kings, and Tule Rivers. The dams are: Terminus Dam (1953), Kaweah River, Isabella Dam (1953), Kern River, Pine Flat Dam (1954), Kings River, Courtright Dam (1958), a few miles downstream of Kings River, Wishon Dam (1958), Kings River, and Success Dam (1961), Tule River.
Who Drained Tulare Lake?
European settlers moving into the area in the mid-1800s realized the rich soil bed when Tulare Lake was dry as ideal farmland. Tulare Lake sustained a tremendous maze complex of wetland ecosystems. Significant numbers of resident and migratory water birds nested by the thousands on this lake. When dry, Tulare Basin was a mixture of sloughs and permanent standing water. It supported its fish populations when it was full.
What Fish Were in Tulare Lake?
Before European settlement, Tulare Lake was shallow, with a maximum depth of 39 feet and an average depth of 20 to 30 feet deep. Its shoreline changed quickly depending on the season, rainfall and snowmelt, and wind. The Yokuts, made up of several smaller tribes from the southern parts of the San Joaquin Valley, mostly inhabited Tulare Lake.
The Yokuts depended heavily on Lake Tulare’s resources. They relied on its fish, plants, and waterfowl to sustain them. Natives used spears and seines to fish Tulare Lake for lake trout, sturgeon, and white fish. The settlers fished Tulare Lake. Some used horse-drawn nets, allowing them to catch tons of fish in a short time.
In 2024, the fish species that would use Tulare Lake are now swimming in the canals, rivers, and tributaries that flow in and out of the lake. In 2014, the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources reported that salmon and steelhead may no longer be present upstream of dams that lack fish passage.
Fish commonly found in the canals, etc. of the Tulare Basin today are largemouth bass, channel catfish, common carp, and white crappie.
Fish Species that lived in Tulare Lake:
- Blackfish: A fish that once lived in Tulare Lake
- California Roach: A native species that was abundant in the freshwater environment of Tulare Lake.
- Chinook Salmon: Not a resident species, the Chinook salmon, would have used the rivers and tributaries feeding into the lake for spawning.
- Pikeminnow: (Sacramento squawfish) A fish that once lived in Tulare Lake
- Rainbow trout: A fish that was planted in Tulare County in 1879
- Sacramento perch: A fish that once lived in Tulare Lake
- Sucker: A fish that once lived in Tulare Lake
- Thicktail chub: An extinct species
- Tule Perch: A small, native fish that was one of the most common species in the region.
- Golden trout: A fish that was planted in Tulare County in 1879
Was Tulare Lake Bigger than Lake Tahoe?
Yes, Tulare Lake was larger than Lake Tahoe before it was drained in the late 1800s. In 1800, Tulare Lake fluctuated to cover from 790 to 1,000-square miles in California’s San Joaquin Valley and today’s Kings County. In 2024, Lake Tahoe is larger than Tulare Lake in terms of volume and depth. It covers 191 square miles and has a maximum depth of 1,645 feet.
Tulare Lake General Information
The Kings River supplied most of Tulare Lake’s water. Today, Tulare Lake is revenant, meaning one that returns after death or a long absence. Tulare Lake was a marshy lake lined with cattails, reeds, and rushes and only about 37-feet deep maximum and 20 to 30-feet deep on average. Oak woodlands and riparian forests emerged as green corridors on the prairie along the eastern edge of Tulare Basin.
Conversion of the Tulare Basin from a lake and slough wetland to agriculture lands began by building structures to divert water through canals. This process allowed settlers to irrigate crops but also slowly disconnected the lake from its inflowing waters. These diversion developments continued up until the mid-1900s and beyond. In 1899, Tulare Lake completely dried up for the first time in recorded history.
Why Was the Tulare Basin in a Flooding State of Emergency in 2023?
Most of the snowpack from the southern Sierra Nevada mountain range will melt and flow into the San Joaquin watershed with a huge percentage of that flow entering the Tulare Basin. The temperatures in the San Joaquin Valley typically begin melting the snowpack in late spring. As spring turns into summer, and the temperatures rise higher in June to the 80s, the snowpack typically melts slowly.
The southern Sierra Nevada snowpack had piled up on the eastern side of this mountain range over 300% above average by April 1, 2023, and by the first of April, it was still growing. Rainfall fell over Central California to the deluge of 400% above average by March 2023, including the San Joaquin Valley.
What Happened to Create the 2023 Tulare Basin Flood Conditions?
Two factors played primary roles leading up to the current Spring 2023 Tulare Basin situation, long-term human mitigation to create prime farmlands and extreme weather events. The Tulare Basin, if left alone to nature, would have continued to rise and fall as a phantom lake. Since the mid-1800s, humans have altered and re-altered the natural waterways of the Tulare Basin and extracted ground water.
Historic ground water extraction caused areas of Tulare Basin to sink. Long-term ground water pumping negatively affected the flood infrastructure installed over the years and made flood control much less efficient. A warm atmospheric river developed over Central California, which caused heavy rainfall and snowfall in the first three months of 2023.
In tropical regions, atmospheric rivers are moist air streams that cause ocean water to evaporate and rise into the atmosphere. Strong winds carry the evaporated ocean water over land. Once over land, the ocean water vapor cools and forms water droplets and snowflakes. Atmospheric rivers commonly form in the Western United States and the cause of up to 50% of annual precipitation over the West Coast.
