California and Water · Episode 5 of 8 · 41 min
The Ground Is Sinking — and a Dead Lake Came Back
California overdrew its underground savings account for a century, and the ground is keeping the books: parts of the San Joaquin Valley have sunk nearly thirty feet, and in 2023 an ancient lake the maps said had been gone for 130 years came back. The episode covers overdraft, subsidence, the 2014 groundwater law forcing land out of production, aquifer recharge, and Tulare Lake's return.
Who's who
- Joseph F. PolandUSGS hydrologist who documented the valley's sinking
Where it happens
- San Joaquin Valley, CaliforniaAquifer overdrawn for a century, with major subsidence
- Mendota, CaliforniaSite of about 28 feet of ground loss
- Tulare Lake, Kings County, CaliforniaDead lake that reappeared in 2023
- Friant-Kern Canal, CaliforniaCapacity cut by subsidence
Timeline
- c. 1870s-1900Rivers feeding Tulare Lake are dammed and the lakebed farmed.
- 1920s-1970Pumping outpaces recharge, sinking about half the valley.
- 2012-2016Drought pumping accelerates subsidence and wells go dry.
- September 2014Sustainable Groundwater Management Act becomes law.
- Winter-spring 2023Atmospheric rivers bring Tulare Lake back over Kings County farmland.
Still debated
The number of acres that will have to be fallowed is uncertain, with one think tank estimating about 500,000 to 900,000. Whether the groundwater law is fair to small growers and whether recharge can scale in time are also contested.
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