Winners and Losers: The Impact of The Lake’s Return
Tulare Lake’s return created a weird mix of good and bad news. For wildlife, it was like hitting the jackpot. Pelicans, hawks, ducks, and owls showed up almost immediately. How did they know? As one researcher put it, “Something that continues to amaze me is that the birds know how to find the lake again. It’s like they’re always looking for it.”
For the Tachi Yokut tribe, Pa’ashi’s return felt like healing old wounds. “As Native people, there has been something missing in our spirit,” explained Robert Jeff, the tribe’s vice chairman. “What you see behind us now is Pa’ashi has reawakened. At the same time, it’s reawakened a lot of spirits.” Farmers, though, had a rough time. They lost over $300 million in Kings County alone. About 60,000 cows needed new homes fast. Crops like tomatoes, cotton, and pistachios were flooded out. Farm equipment worth millions sat underwater.
But there was an unexpected bonus. The returning waters added about 3.8 million acre-feet to underground aquifers. In a region where people have been pumping out too much groundwater for years, this natural refill helps everyone in the long run.
