Tulare Lake was once the largest body of fresh water in the American West. It dried up a century ago after its tributaries were dammed, diked, and diverted and the lake bed converted into some of the most fertile and productive agricultural land in California. In 2023, Tulare Lake made a surprise reemergence after a winter of unusually heavy rainfall, flooding some 180 square miles of farmland in the Central Valley. Experts believe it may take as long as two or three years for the flood waters to recede.

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