Re-emergence of Tulare Lake
California's phantom lake returns. Here's what this means.
In the San Joaquin Valley, Tulare Lake of California has reemerged following unprecedented snowfall and storms last spring (Osborne, 2023). This Holocene Era Lake once covered 800 square miles and was the largest water body west of the Mississippi River; it was drained and converted to farmland by settlers in the late 1800s (Osborne, 2023). The lake covered roughly 120,000 acres at its peak last summer, submerging over 10% of Kings County after a series of atmospheric rivers flooded California in early 2023 (KFSN, 2024). While the lake has prevented farming communities in the area from producing crops and accessing their homes, environmentalists and members of the Tachi Yokut Tribe have advocated for the lake to be restored (Osborne, 2023). However, the lake, which lasted two years the last time it reached this area in 1982 (James, 2023), has been rapidly declining in the months since and now covers roughly 4,500 acres (KFSN, 2024).
Context
Historically, Tulare Lake covered almost 512,000 acres (about the area of Yosemite National Park) in the Central San Joaquin Valley (Osborne, 2023), the largest freshwater body west of the Mississippi River (Bittle, 2023). Prior to its drainage in the late 1800s, the Tulare Lake was the cultural roots and source of livelihoods for the Tachi Yokuts Tribe (Osborne, 2023). The motivation for its drainage was land conversion to benefit agricultural production in the Tulare Lake Basin which now provides most of the cotton, tomatoes, pistachios, and several other crops for the U.S. (Jacobo et al., 2023). The area now supports agricultural operations ranging from small family outfits to megafarms (Wright, 2023).
This is not a new water challenge for the region which has seen the lake reemerge several times in the past decade, the most recent being in 1997 (Klein, 2023). Additionally, the region has suffered from a classic case of over pumping groundwater leaving its management plan lacking and future water security in question.
Sociopolitical
The Tulare Lake waters were rerouted to the surrounding arid lands to support white settlement after being seized as “public lands” (Lloyd, 2024) and creating water rights for farmers under Prior Appropriation law (James, 2023). While a 1908 Supreme Court ruling entitles tribes to fulfill reservation purposes through water rights, many tribes, including the Tachi Tribe, don’t have these rights resolved and therefore have missed out on primary rights (James, 2023). Since the disappearance of the lake, the region has heavily relied on groundwater to support the region’s agriculture.
California’s groundwater resources are primarily managed through the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (2014) framework that established local Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) in high- or medium-priority designated subbasins (California DWR). Over 300 GSAs have submitted formation notices in 142 basins (SGMA Portal, 2024). The Tulare Lake Subbasin, containing six GSAs, is one of California’s Critically Overdrafted Basins where:
“continuation of present water management practices would probably result in significant adverse overdraft-related environmental, social, or economic impacts,” (California DWR, COB).
Subsequently, the Tulare Lake Subbasin has been severely over pumped, and the Tulare Lake Hydrologic Region had the most subsidence from July 2022 to July 2023 (California DWR, 2023). In Spring, 2023, around the same time as the reemergence of Tulare Lake, the Tulare Lake Subbasin 2022 Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) was deemed inadequate by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and a public meeting held by the State Water Resources Control Board in early November of this year to discuss placing the subbasin under probation, costing the area a fine of $30 million (Wright, 2023).
The extensive flooding that reestablished Tulare Lake has impacted several groups in the region, Indigenous and environmental interests generally supporting restoration of the Pa’ashi Lake while agricultural interests favor returning their agricultural lands. Some groups have been more vulnerable to its returns than others, farmworkers, many of which don’t speak English or have little political connectivity, have less adaptability compared to the land- and businessowners (Lloyd, 2024). Early government efforts fought to limit flooding by diverting waters to the California Aqueduct (James, 2023) and applying federal funds to compensate for losses (Ortiz-Briones, 2023), while calls for the lake’s restoration have been sidelined.
Ecological
· The re-emergence of Lake Tulare had significant negative and positive ecological impacts. Department of water resources (DWR) estimates more than 3.8 million acre-feet of recharge capacity for 2023....including 1.2 million acre-feet of groundwater recharge permitted by State agencies (California DWR, 2023). While the resurgence has brought back vulnerable and impaired species including migratory birds and fish species, (Sexton, 2024) lake has emerged over farmland, leading to agricultural chemicals interacting with wildlife returning to the lake habitat. Due to these harmful chemicals, the species that are returning to the lake are getting sick and, in some cases, dying. This drainage introduces fertilizers and livestock waste into the water. This stagnant water also contained harmful bacteria, known as Clostridium botulinum, which contributed to wildlife returning to the area. Through this resurgence, there has also been a decline in native species and an increase in non-native species because of the loss of natural ecosystem structure. Though there has been turmoil over the Lake Tulare re-emergence, there is a great opportunity for ecological restoration. Many wildlife and water scientists believe that restoration of the lake could create an abundant, biodiverse habitat. Continued investment in the restoration of Lake Tulare can also heal the Central Valley’s relationship with its water.
· The Tulare Lake Basin was originally a marine environment millions of years ago; beyond the Pleistocene Era it became isolated and freshwater. There are 25,000 feet of sediments covered with fossil reminders of this era (Preston 1981). This and glacial advancements contributed to the abundant groundwater and rich clay soil that makes for great farming conditions.
Economic
Kings County is a major contributor to the agricultural industry in the U.S. In 2021, the crops produced in this region valued at $2.3 billion (Ortiz-Briones, 2023). Most of the United States' cotton, tomatoes, pistachios, almonds, walnuts, alfalfa, wheat, barley, and cow’s milk are produced within the regions of the Lake Basin (Jacobo et al., 2023). The damage has affected small family farms and the megafarms within the basin (Osborne, 2023.) Around 94,00 acres of crops, orchards and pastureland were emerged in water (Klein, 2023). The re-emergence of the lake was estimated to have ruined over 41% of the county’s $2.43 billion crop value including $ 1 billion in additional damages (Ortiz-Briones, 2023). The cost of these products is anticipated to increase in stores in the U.S. and around the world as the availability decreases (Jacobo et al., 2023).
In addition to agricultural damage, flood damages have cost over $2 billion to Kings County. On April 3 rd , 2023, President Biden signed an emergency declaration to provide federal funding for the affected counties in the Tulare Lake Basin (Ortiz-Briones, 2023). In Fall of 2023, it was reported that FEMA had denied individual assistance to Kings County, despite the thousands of residents that were displaced in the region. Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego predicts that atmospheric river storms are likely to increase, causing annual flood damages to increase from $1 billion to $ 3 billion by the end of the century (Newburger, 2023). The state of California has invested $17.2 million to fortify the Corcoran Levee and has committed another $500 million to the 2023-2024 budget to flood response projects to protect citizens from future flooding (Newsom, 2023).
Spiritual/Cultural
“It makes me swell with pride to know that, in this lifetime, I get to experience it. My daughters, my grandson get to experience the lake, and the stories that we heard when we were kids, for us it comes to fruition.”
Tulare Lake has strong cultural significance to the local indigenous tribes. At one point in time, 50 bands of the Yokuts people had lived alongside the lake. The body of water was known to them as “Pa’ashi”, which translates to “Big Water”. The largest tribe along the Lake was known as the Tachi Yokuts and relied on it as a source of food and their home. The lake was significantly connected to their spiritual beliefs but as it began to dry up in the early 1900s, the connection was lost.
The reemergence of the lake has reconnected the people to their sacred traditions. An offering ceremony was led by Robert Jeff, the Vice Chairmen of the Tachi Yokuts tribe. Those who attended planted tule reeds to spark new growth in the water, sent out boats made of tule reeds, and led prayers and sang as part of their ceremony celebrating Pa’ashi’s return. Kenny Barrios, the tribe’s cultural liaison, described the lake’s return as “inviting the spirits of ancestors back to the lake” (Hok, 2023). Pa’ashi, something many tribal members had only heard about in stories, was now tangible. “As Native people, there has been something missing in our spirit. There’s been something missing in our souls. And what you see behind us now is Pa’ashi has reawakened,” said Robert Jeff, the tribe’s vice chairman. “At the same time, it’s reawakened a lot of spirits.” (James, 2023).
Many tribal members expressed a desire to see the lake return. They acknowledge the change that has occurred on their lands, with the return of Pa’ashi inundating the farms and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to the farmer’s livelihoods. The many stakeholders who now are in control of the land and will have a say in the future of Pa’ashi, and the tribe is willing to work together with farmers, local people, and the local, state, and federal government to find a way to bring the lake back to its former glory. The restoration of the lake can benefit the area’s Indigenous people spiritually, as well as create a reservoir for the parched region, and bring back the wetlands and ecosystem the lake maintained. As Robert Jeff stated, “The land needs that lake” (James, 2023).
Conclusion
Overall, Lake Tulare is now receding, and there are conversations on both sides about whether to restore it. The negative and positive impacts on all stakeholders will need to be considered. Changing climate patterns may continue to cause flooding and destruction of the Tulare Lake Basin. Allowing Lake Tulare to remain would be positive for the region in the face of growing concerns about water scarcity, as well as restoring the prior ecosystem to the region. Despite this, the damage it’s caused to the local farmland, infrastructure, and communities cannot be ignored. The future of Lake Tulare is uncertain.
