California's 'phantom lake' returns with a vengeance (Tulare, San Joaquin: agriculture, rich)

[Tulemutt]

Once the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River, Tulare Lake was largely drained in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as the rivers that fed it were dammed and diverted for agriculture.

This month, after powerful storms, rivers that dwindled during the drought are swollen with runoff from heavy rains and snow, and are flowing full from the Sierra Nevada into the valley, spilling from canals and broken levees into fields.

Here is a history of Tulare Lake from the pages of The Times.

https://news.yahoo.com/californias-p...120030115.html

[CA4Now]

Amazing.

"In the days before the damming of rivers, the lake could stretch for 790 square miles, four times the size of Lake Tahoe, with depths of 30 feet."

[MechAndy]

I read about that recently.
There is some good and interesting history about that and the Central Valley.

[DabOnEm]

surprised more Californians don't know about Tulare Lake. I remember reading about it a full years ago, when I was researching Kern County for work (an at risk grant we were developing) and went down a rabbit hole and learned about Tulare Lake. pretty significant for CA to have the largest freshwater lake outside the Great Lakes in America yet they drained it for agriculture. I wish it was still here permanently.

[recycled]

After the great west coast flood of Nov. 1861-Jan. 1862, not only was Tulare Lake completely full, but the entire San Joaquin valley was a great inland sea almost the size of Lake Superior. One of the reasons that the central valley of CA is one of the best farming regions on the planet is because it historically was a great flood plain that left deep, rich soil and minerals.

[MechAndy]

I spend half of my time in another state.
Having the produce from the Central Valley is something most people take for granted.
We don’t have no Central Valley here and our produce looks like it might come from Norway.

[DiffuseGlow]

Originally Posted by MechAndy

I spend half of my time in another state.
Having the produce from the Central Valley is something most people take for granted.
We don’t have no Central Valley here and our produce looks like it might come from Norway.

A thousand times over.

[NW4me]

Originally Posted by recycled

After the great west coast flood of Nov. 1861-Jan. 1862, not only was Tulare Lake completely full, but the entire San Joaquin valley was a great inland sea almost the size of Lake Superior. One of the reasons that the central valley of CA is one of the best farming regions on the planet is because it historically was a great flood plain that left deep, rich soil and minerals.

That's amazing.... it would've been incredible to be there and see that.

[NORTY FLATZ]

Can you imagine? Just think of all the disease carrying mosquitos? Talk about a breeding ground for pests.

Think: Shreveport...

[Tulemutt]

Ah, update article reports unhappinesses about the “lake” …
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/envi...avoc-rcna75942