Ghost Lake Returns After 130 Years and Buries 94,000 Acres of Farmland

For the first time in about 130 years, Tulare Lake reappeared in California’s San Joaquin Valley, stirring both wonder and concern among locals and experts alike as it submerged almost 100,000 acres of privately owned farmland.

Vivian Underhill, a researcher formerly at Northeastern University, has been studying this unexpected phenomenon.

“Tulare Lake was the largest body of fresh water west of the Mississippi River. It’s really difficult to imagine that now,” she says.

Tulare Lake returns

Often dubbed the “ghost lake,” Tulare Lake vanished about 130 years ago due to extensive human intervention.

But in the spring of 2023, after massive winter storms and significant snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada, the lake roared back to life.

The water overwhelmed human-made systems designed to drain the basin, submerging thousands of acres of fertile farmland that once produced pistachios, almonds, cotton, and safflower.