Snowmelt floods Californian valley
Ever since record winter snowpack in the Sierra Nevada began to melt in February, the once-parched Tulare Lake in California has been growing. It now measures 168 square miles – roughly the size of Lake Tahoe – and has been indiscriminate in claiming valuable cropland in California’s Central Valley. Water engineers want to preserve as much of the standing water as possible, but they needn’t rush: meteorologists say it could take two years, maybe longer, for the lake to fully recede. In the meantime the local Sheriff’s office is buying its own airboat and adventurous kayakers are flocking to the lake’s shores. Tulare’s comeback is a novelty, but also highlights a key problem caused by climate change – more water in areas where it’s not needed, and less where it is. There is still plenty of snow to melt in the Sierras, so the lake hasn’t finished growing.
Photograph Mario Tama/Getty Images