![]() Photograph: Nasaĭecades have passed since Tulare – once the largest body of fresh water in the west – served as a vibrant wetland sprawling across nearly 800 sq miles. Nasa satellite images show the progression of flooding in the Tulare Lake basin. Growers were washed out of key crops and workers lost out on jobs across the waterlogged valley. In Tulare county – one of the world’s largest milk-producing regions – thousands of cows were lost to the floods, while roughly 75,000 had to be trailered to safety. The rapidly rising waters forced evacuations across the region in early spring, as communities rushed to higher ground. The snowpack will lead to sustained high flows across the San Joaquin and Tulare basins over several months, Nemeth said. “This year’s massive snowpack is posing continued flood risks in the San Joaquin Valley,” said the DWR director, Karla Nemeth, in a written statement, noting the bittersweet outcome of very wet winter after years of drought. On Thursday, the snowpack in the southern Sierra was 436% of normal for this time of year, according to California’s department of water resources (DWR). Tucked against the Sierra Nevada’s white-capped peaks, the region will have to reckon with surges of snowmelt filling its waterways as the weather warms. This isn’t the first time the “ghost lake” has caused widespread flooding, but the onslaught of weather whiplash wreaked havoc on residents, agricultural workers and farms – and it’s far from finished.
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