Tulare Lake
Encyclopedia
Tulare Lake, named Laguna de Tache by the Spanish, is a fresh-water dry lake
with residual wetland
s and marsh
es in southern San Joaquin Valley
, California
. Until the late 19th century, Tulare Lake was the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River and the second largest freshwater lake in the United States based upon surface area, but it dried up after its tributary rivers were diverted for agricultural irrigation and municipal water uses.
The lake was named for the Tule Rush (Schoenoplectus acutus) that lined the marshes and sloughs of its shores. The lake was part of (approximately) a 13,670 sq. mi. (22,000 sq. km.) partially endorheic basin, at the south end of the San Joaquin Valley
where it received water from the Kern
, Tule
and Kaweah River
s as well as from southern distributaries
of the Kings
. It was separated from the rest of the San Joaquin Valley by tectonic subsidence and by alluvial fans extending out from Los Gatos Creek in the Coast Ranges and the Kings River
in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.). Above a threshold elevation of 207 to 210 feet, it overflowed into the San Joaquin River
. This happened in 19 of 29 years from 1850 to 1878. There were no overflows after 1878 due to increasing diversions of tributary waters for agricultural irrigation and municipal water uses and, by 1899, the lake was dry except for residual wetlands and occasional floods.
Tulare Lake was the largest of several similar lakes in its lower basin. Most of the Kern River's flow first went into Kern and Buena Vista lakes southwest of the site of Bakersfield. They overflowed into Tulare Lake through Buena Vista Slough.
salmon run.
For centuries the Yokut people built reed boat
s and fished in this lake in their homeland, until after the arrival of Spanish and American colonists. Robert F. Heizer and Albert B. Elsasser (1980), suggested that the Yokut had once numbered about 70,000. They had one of the highest regional population densities in pre-contact North America, which was possible because of the rich habitat.
Even well after California became a state, Tulare Lake and its extensive marshes supported an important fishery: in 1888, in one three-month period, 73,500 pounds of fish were shipped through Hanford
to San Francisco. It was also the source of a regional favorite, Western pond turtle
s, which were relished as Terrapin
Soup
in San Francisco and elsewhere. The lake and surrounding wetlands were a significant stop for hundreds of thousands of birds migrating along the Pacific Flyway
. Tulare Lake was written about by Mark Twain
.
Once the largest freshwater lake west of the Great Lakes
, in 1849, the lake measured 1476 km² (569.9 sq mi), and in 1879, 1780 km² (687.3 sq mi), as its size fluctuated due to varying levels of rainfall and snowfall.
Following the floods of 1861-62 and 1867-68, the highest water on record reached between 216 and 220 ft above sea level. At that elevation, the lake overtopped the natural "spillway" (located five miles west of the current community of Halls Corner
on state route 41) and flowed northward into the sea via the Boggs and Fresno
sloughs and the San Joaquin River
. But, as the state and farmers diverted much water from its tributaries for agricultural irrigation and municipal water uses, by the early 20th century the lake went nearly dry.
Enough water remained so that Alameda Naval Air Station used Tulare Lake as an outlying seaplane base during World War II
and the early years of the Cold War
. Flying boat
s could land on Tulare Lake when landing conditions were unsafe on San Francisco Bay
.
The expression "out in the tules," referring to the sedge
growing 3–10 ft tall that lined the lakeshore, is still common in the dialect of old Californian families and means "beyond far away."
, late nineteenth-century settlers drained the surrounding marshes for early agriculture. The government dammed the Kaweah
, Kern
, Kings
and Tule
rivers upstream in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, which turned their headwaters into a system of reservoir
s. In the San Joaquin Valley
, the state and counties built canal
s to deliver that water and divert the remaining flows for agricultural irrigation
and municipal water uses. Tulare Lake was nearly dry by the early 20th century.
The lake bed is now a shallow basin of fertile soil
, within the Central Valley of California, the most productive agricultural region of the United States. Farmers have irrigated the area for a century and soil salination
is becoming a concern.
s resulted in substantial losses of terrestrial animal
s; plant
s; aquatic animal
s; water plant
s; and resident and migrating bird
s. Although now dry, the lake occasionally reappears during floods following unusually high levels of snow melt, as it did in 1997.
Dry lake
Dry lakes are ephemeral lakebeds, or a remnant of an endorheic lake. Such flats consist of fine-grained sediments infused with alkali salts. Dry lakes are also referred to as alkali flats, sabkhas, playas or mud flats...
with residual wetland
Wetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....
s and marsh
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
es in southern San Joaquin Valley
San Joaquin Valley
The San Joaquin Valley is the area of the Central Valley of California that lies south of the Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta in Stockton...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Until the late 19th century, Tulare Lake was the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River and the second largest freshwater lake in the United States based upon surface area, but it dried up after its tributary rivers were diverted for agricultural irrigation and municipal water uses.
The lake was named for the Tule Rush (Schoenoplectus acutus) that lined the marshes and sloughs of its shores. The lake was part of (approximately) a 13,670 sq. mi. (22,000 sq. km.) partially endorheic basin, at the south end of the San Joaquin Valley
San Joaquin Valley
The San Joaquin Valley is the area of the Central Valley of California that lies south of the Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta in Stockton...
where it received water from the Kern
Kern River
The Kern River is a river in the U.S. state of California, approximately long. It drains an area of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains northeast of Bakersfield. Fed by snowmelt near Mount Whitney, the river passes through scenic canyons in the mountains and is a popular destination for...
, Tule
Tule River
The Tule River, also called Rio de San Pedro or Rio San Pedro, is a river in Tulare County in the U.S. state of California. The river originates in the Sierra Nevada east of Porterville and consists of three forks, North, Middle and South. The North Fork and Middle Fork meet above Springville. The...
and Kaweah River
Kaweah River
The Kaweah River in the U.S. state of California flows westward from the foothills of the Sierra Nevada into the Central Valley. It rises in forks in the southern Sierra Nevada inside Sequoia National Park, the longest of which is the Middle Fork, about long...
s as well as from southern distributaries
Distributary
A distributary, or a distributary channel, is a stream that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel. They are a common feature of river deltas. The phenomenon is known as river bifurcation. The opposite of a distributary is a tributary...
of the Kings
Kings River (California)
The Kings River is a major river of south-central California. About long, it drains an area of the high western Sierra Nevada and the Central Valley. A large alluvial fan has formed where the river's gradient decreases in the Central Valley so the river divides into distributaries...
. It was separated from the rest of the San Joaquin Valley by tectonic subsidence and by alluvial fans extending out from Los Gatos Creek in the Coast Ranges and the Kings River
Kings River (California)
The Kings River is a major river of south-central California. About long, it drains an area of the high western Sierra Nevada and the Central Valley. A large alluvial fan has formed where the river's gradient decreases in the Central Valley so the river divides into distributaries...
in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.). Above a threshold elevation of 207 to 210 feet, it overflowed into the San Joaquin River
San Joaquin River
The San Joaquin River is the largest river of Central California in the United States. At over long, the river starts in the high Sierra Nevada, and flows through a rich agricultural region known as the San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suisun Bay, San Francisco Bay, and the Pacific Ocean...
. This happened in 19 of 29 years from 1850 to 1878. There were no overflows after 1878 due to increasing diversions of tributary waters for agricultural irrigation and municipal water uses and, by 1899, the lake was dry except for residual wetlands and occasional floods.
Tulare Lake was the largest of several similar lakes in its lower basin. Most of the Kern River's flow first went into Kern and Buena Vista lakes southwest of the site of Bakersfield. They overflowed into Tulare Lake through Buena Vista Slough.
History
Tulare Lake once supported vast populations of deer, elk, antelope, grizzly bear, migratory waterfowl, and aquatic species. During wet years, the rivers feeding into the lake were the terminus of the western hemisphere's southernmost chinookChinook salmon
The Chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, is the largest species in the pacific salmon family. Other commonly used names for the species include King salmon, Quinnat salmon, Spring salmon and Tyee salmon...
salmon run.
For centuries the Yokut people built reed boat
Reed boat
Reed boats and rafts, along with dugout canoes and other rafts, are among the oldest known types of boats. Often used as traditional fishing boats, they are still used in a few places around the world, though they have generally been replaced with planked boats. Reed boats can be distinguished from...
s and fished in this lake in their homeland, until after the arrival of Spanish and American colonists. Robert F. Heizer and Albert B. Elsasser (1980), suggested that the Yokut had once numbered about 70,000. They had one of the highest regional population densities in pre-contact North America, which was possible because of the rich habitat.
Even well after California became a state, Tulare Lake and its extensive marshes supported an important fishery: in 1888, in one three-month period, 73,500 pounds of fish were shipped through Hanford
Hanford, California
Hanford is an important commercial and cultural center in the south central San Joaquin Valley and is the county seat of Kings County, California. It is the principal city of the Hanford-Corcoran, California Metropolitan Statistical Area , which encompasses all of Kings County, including the cities...
to San Francisco. It was also the source of a regional favorite, Western pond turtle
Western pond turtle
The western pond turtle , or Pacific pond turtle is a small to medium-sized turtle growing to approximately 20 cm in carapace length. It is limited to the west coast of the United States of America and Mexico, ranging from western Washington state to northern Baja California...
s, which were relished as Terrapin
Terrapin
A terrapin is a turtle living in fresh or brackish water.Terrapin may also refer to:* Terrapin , a transport vehicle used for amphibious assault by the Allies during the Second World War...
Soup
Soup
Soup is a generally warm food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables with stock, juice, water, or another liquid. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavors are extracted, forming a broth.Traditionally,...
in San Francisco and elsewhere. The lake and surrounding wetlands were a significant stop for hundreds of thousands of birds migrating along the Pacific Flyway
Pacific Flyway
The Pacific Flyway is a major north-south route of travel for migratory birds in America, extending from Alaska to Patagonia. Every year, migratory birds travel some or all of this distance both in spring and in fall, following food sources, heading to breeding grounds, or travelling to...
. Tulare Lake was written about by Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
.
Once the largest freshwater lake west of the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
, in 1849, the lake measured 1476 km² (569.9 sq mi), and in 1879, 1780 km² (687.3 sq mi), as its size fluctuated due to varying levels of rainfall and snowfall.
Following the floods of 1861-62 and 1867-68, the highest water on record reached between 216 and 220 ft above sea level. At that elevation, the lake overtopped the natural "spillway" (located five miles west of the current community of Halls Corner
Halls Corner, California
Halls Corner is an unincorporated community in Kings County, California. It is located north-northwest of Lemoore, at an elevation of 230 feet ....
on state route 41) and flowed northward into the sea via the Boggs and Fresno
Fresno Slough
Fresno Slough is a distibutary of the Kings River that connects the North Fork Kings River to the San Joaquin River. Until 1879, when irrigation diversions prevented it, Fresno Slough was also an outlet of the overflow waters of Tulare Lake into the San Joaquin River in flood years, when its...
sloughs and the San Joaquin River
San Joaquin River
The San Joaquin River is the largest river of Central California in the United States. At over long, the river starts in the high Sierra Nevada, and flows through a rich agricultural region known as the San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suisun Bay, San Francisco Bay, and the Pacific Ocean...
. But, as the state and farmers diverted much water from its tributaries for agricultural irrigation and municipal water uses, by the early 20th century the lake went nearly dry.
Enough water remained so that Alameda Naval Air Station used Tulare Lake as an outlying seaplane base during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the early years of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. Flying boat
Flying boat
A flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a float plane as it uses a purpose-designed fuselage which can float, granting the aircraft buoyancy. Flying boats may be stabilized by under-wing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage...
s could land on Tulare Lake when landing conditions were unsafe on San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
.
The expression "out in the tules," referring to the sedge
Cyperaceae
Cyperaceae are a family of monocotyledonous graminoid flowering plants known as sedges, which superficially resemble grasses or rushes. The family is large, with some 5,500 species described in about 109 genera. These species are widely distributed, with the centers of diversity for the group...
growing 3–10 ft tall that lined the lakeshore, is still common in the dialect of old Californian families and means "beyond far away."
Decline of lake
In the wake of the United States Civil WarCalifornia in the Civil War
California's involvement in the American Civil War included sending gold east, recruiting volunteer combat units to replace regular forces in territories of the Western United States, maintaining and building numerous camps and fortifications, suppressing secessionist activity and securing the New...
, late nineteenth-century settlers drained the surrounding marshes for early agriculture. The government dammed the Kaweah
Kaweah River
The Kaweah River in the U.S. state of California flows westward from the foothills of the Sierra Nevada into the Central Valley. It rises in forks in the southern Sierra Nevada inside Sequoia National Park, the longest of which is the Middle Fork, about long...
, Kern
Kern River
The Kern River is a river in the U.S. state of California, approximately long. It drains an area of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains northeast of Bakersfield. Fed by snowmelt near Mount Whitney, the river passes through scenic canyons in the mountains and is a popular destination for...
, Kings
Kings River (California)
The Kings River is a major river of south-central California. About long, it drains an area of the high western Sierra Nevada and the Central Valley. A large alluvial fan has formed where the river's gradient decreases in the Central Valley so the river divides into distributaries...
and Tule
Tule River
The Tule River, also called Rio de San Pedro or Rio San Pedro, is a river in Tulare County in the U.S. state of California. The river originates in the Sierra Nevada east of Porterville and consists of three forks, North, Middle and South. The North Fork and Middle Fork meet above Springville. The...
rivers upstream in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, which turned their headwaters into a system of reservoir
Reservoir
A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...
s. In the San Joaquin Valley
San Joaquin Valley
The San Joaquin Valley is the area of the Central Valley of California that lies south of the Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta in Stockton...
, the state and counties built canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
s to deliver that water and divert the remaining flows for agricultural irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
and municipal water uses. Tulare Lake was nearly dry by the early 20th century.
The lake bed is now a shallow basin of fertile soil
Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...
, within the Central Valley of California, the most productive agricultural region of the United States. Farmers have irrigated the area for a century and soil salination
Soil salination
Soil salinity is the salt content in the soil.- Causes of soil salinity :Salt-affected soils are caused by excess accumulation of salts, typically most pronounced at the soil surface. Salts can be transported to the soil surface by capillary transport from a salt laden water table and then...
is becoming a concern.
Environmental impacts
The destruction of the terrestrial wetlands and the lake ecosystem habitatHabitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
s resulted in substantial losses of terrestrial animal
Terrestrial animal
Terrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land , as compared with aquatic animals, which live predominantly or entirely in the water , or amphibians, which rely on a combination of aquatic and terrestrial habitats...
s; plant
Terrestrial plant
A terrestrial plant is one that grows on land. Other types of plants are aquatic , epiphytic , lithophytes and aerial ....
s; aquatic animal
Aquatic animal
An aquatic animal is an animal, either vertebrate or invertebrate, which lives in water for most or all of its life. It may breathe air or extract its oxygen from that dissolved in water through specialised organs called gills, or directly through its skin. Natural environments and the animals that...
s; water plant
Aquatic plant
Aquatic plants are plants that have adapted to living in aquatic environments. They are also referred to as hydrophytes or aquatic macrophytes. These plants require special adaptations for living submerged in water, or at the water's surface. Aquatic plants can only grow in water or in soil that is...
s; and resident and migrating bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s. Although now dry, the lake occasionally reappears during floods following unusually high levels of snow melt, as it did in 1997.
See also
- Rancho Laguna de Tache (Limantour)Rancho Laguna de Tache (Limantour)Rancho Laguna de Tache was a Mexican land grant in present day Tulare County, Fresno County and Kings County, California claimed to have been given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Joseph Yves Limantour. The grant extended along the south bank of the Kings River and was bounded on...
- TularemiaTularemiaTularemia is a serious infectious disease caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis. A Gram-negative, nonmotile coccobacillus, the bacterium has several subspecies with varying degrees of virulence. The most important of those is F...
- Aquatic ecosystems
- Ramsar ConventionRamsar ConventionThe Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, i.e., to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and in the future, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural,...
- San Luis National Wildlife RefugeSan Luis National Wildlife RefugeThe San Luis National Wildlife Refuge in the San Joaquin Valley of central California is one of the great remnants of a historically bountiful wintering grounds for migratory waterfowl on the Pacific Flyway...
- Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge
- Great Valley Grasslands State ParkGreat Valley Grasslands State ParkThe Great Valley Grasslands State Park, in central Northern California-U.S., preserves one of few intact original remnants of the formerly extensive and predominant native grasslands on the floor of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, in the California State Park system of protected areas...
- Ramsar Convention
- Turlock BasinTurlock BasinThe Turlock Basin is a sub-basin of the San Joaquin Valley groundwater basin which occupies approximately 13,700 total square miles, making it the largest groundwater basin in California. This aquifer is located within the Central Valley. Groundwater in the San Joaquin Valley occurs mostly in...
- a sub-basin of the San Joaquin Valley groundwater basin- San Joaquin (soil)San Joaquin (soil)San Joaquin is an officially designated state insignia, the State Soil of the U.S. state of California.The California Central Valley has more than 500,000 acres of San Joaquin soils, named for the south end of that valley. This series is the oldest continuously recognized soil series within the...
- San Joaquin (soil)
- Category: Native American history of California
- Yokut people
- Mussel Slough TragedyMussel Slough TragedyThe Mussel Slough Tragedy was a dispute over land titles between settlers and the Southern Pacific Railroad that took place on May 11, 1880, on a farm located northwest of Hanford, California, in the central San Joaquin Valley, leaving seven people dead. Frank Norris' 1901 novel, The Octopus: A...
- Aral SeaAral SeaThe Aral Sea was a lake that lay between Kazakhstan in the north and Karakalpakstan, an autonomous region of Uzbekistan, in the south...