Lake Tulare, a lake that dried up in the last century due to water diversion projects, has returned due to heavy winter rain and snow, and now exceeds 160 square miles in area, making it almost as large as Lake Tahoe.
Floodwaters in the reemerging Tulare Lake near Corcoran, California, US, on Monday, May 1, 2023. Tulare Lake, the long dormant lake that made a surprise comeback in California’s San Joaquin Valley this year, has gotten so big with the wet weather that water experts say it won’t drain until at least next year, and maybe well after that, reported the San Francisco Chronicle. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
As Breitbart News reported earlier this year, the return of a lake that was once the largest freshwater body west of the Mississippi had excited environmentalists and recreationalists, but threatened farms and local towns.
Floodwaters from the reemerging Tulare Lake near Corcoran, California, US, on Monday, May 1, 2023. Tulare Lake, the long dormant lake that made a surprise comeback in California’s San Joaquin Valley this year, has gotten so big with the wet weather that water experts say it won’t drain until at least next year, and maybe well after that, reported the San Francisco Chronicle. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The San Francisco Chronicle noted Monday that the lake’s size is expected to peak May 31 at 182 acres in size. (Lake Tahoe is about 191 square miles.)
Workers secure a levee near Corcoran, California, US, on Monday, May 1, 2023. Tulare Lake, the long dormant lake that made a surprise comeback in California’s San Joaquin Valley this year, has gotten so big with the wet weather that water experts say it won’t drain until at least next year, and maybe well after that, reported the San Francisco Chronicle. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Chronicle added that earlier concerns about flooding nearby — including the city of Corcoran, home to a state prison — have eased, thanks to a slower snowmelt and to frantic efforts to raise levees near the town.
Floodwaters from the reemerging Tulare Lake near Corcoran, California, US, on Monday, May 1, 2023. Tulare Lake, the long dormant lake that made a surprise comeback in California’s San Joaquin Valley this year, has gotten so big with the wet weather that water experts say it won’t drain until at least next year, and maybe well after that, reported the San Francisco Chronicle. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The lake is expected to persist until next year, at least. The loss of farmland could drive up global food prices.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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