Tulare Lake resurfaces after 130 years, flooding 94,000 acres of farmland (Image credit: X)

After over 130 years of disappearance, California Tulare Lake has returned and reclaimed its place in the San Joaquin Valley and devours approximately 94,000 acres of private farmland.
Once the largest freshwater reservoir west of the Mississippi, the lake disappeared in the late 19th century due to extensive human activity. Now he is making a dramatic comeback.
Tulare Lake, often referred to as “Ghost Lake,” began drying up in the 1850s.
The drainage process was not a natural phenomenon, but the result of conscious human action. Settlers built hundreds of irrigation canals and basins to divert water and convert the land into farmland. This process, known as “recultivation,” not only destroyed the lake but also displaced it indigenous Tachi Yokut tribefor whom the lake – called “Pa’ashi” – was a central part of their way of life.
According to Vivian Underhill, a researcher who has studied the lake extensively, settlers were encouraged to drain the land because ownership was given to those who could use it for agricultural purposes, the New York Post reported.
But in spring 2023, nature prevailed.
A series of massive winter storms in California, as well as significant snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada, overwhelmed the man-made drainage systems and filled the lakebed again.
This resurgence swamped thousands of acres of fertile farmland that once grew pistachios, almonds and cotton.
As Earth.com reports, Lake Tulare’s rebirth is both impressive and worrisome because it has also flooded buildings that contained harmful materials such as fertilizers, pesticides and electrical equipment, raising environmental and safety concerns.
While the lake’s return has disrupted agriculture in the region, it has brought a surprising revival of the local ecosystem.
Ducks, herons and other water birds are now flocking to the shores, while frogs and tulip grass are reclaiming their habitats on the lake’s shores. “It’s really hard to imagine that this was once the largest freshwater reservoir in the region,” Underhill told Northeastern Global News.
Despite its rejuvenation, Tulare Lake’s future remains uncertain.
This is not the first time it has reappeared since its disappearance in the 19th century.
According to The Week, experts suggest that its return could be cyclical and the lake could disappear again depending on future climatic and human interventions.