For the first time since 1983, a dry CA lakebed will be deluged.

[John1956PA]

https://calmatters.org/commentary/2023/03/tulare-lake-water-california/

From the article:

Situated between the later cities of Fresno and Bakersfield, Tulare Lake, as it was named in English, was the nation’s largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River. It spread out to as much as 1,000 square miles as snow in the Sierra melted each spring, feeding five rivers flowing into the lake.

Its abundance of fish and other wildlife supported several Native American tribes, who built boats from the lake’s reeds to gather its bounty.

When the snowmelt was particularly heavy, the lake rose high enough that a natural spillway would divert water into the San Joaquin River and thence to the Pacific Ocean through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay.

It was a fairly common phenomenon in the 19th century, but the last time it happened naturally was in 1878. With the arrival of the railroad, the region was becoming an agricultural center and farmers were diverting water from Tulare’s tributaries for irrigation.

[Blues Heron]

1. More than just a dry lake bed - its all farmland now

A lot of acerage of productive land is about to go under - maybe for as long as two years

[John1956PA]

2. Thanks for the correction. The area is indeed agrarian. Here is a link to a snip from Google Maps.

[Blues Heron]

3. It's a good 20 miles in diameter

Dozens of square miles could be inundated with all the runoff from that record snowpack. Let’s hope it all doesn’t melt at once!