California Tulare Lake communities unlikely to flood this year

California officials said Monday that communities near Tulare Lake will not experience heavy flooding this year as weather conditions improved following a series of powerful atmospheric river storms.

Several weeks ago, scientists and officials warned of worsening flooding in the Central Valley as large amounts of snowpack melted from the Sierra Nevada and sent more water into the basin. Forecasters expressed concern over possible breaches of the levee and displacement of residents in communities such as Corcoran and Stratford.

However, officials said they no longer expect flooding from those communities due to state efforts to raise levees as well as farmers’ work to divert more water for irrigation. Earlier this month, Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state would spend $17 million to strengthen the levees that protect Corcoran from flooding.

Brian Ferguson, deputy director of crisis communications for the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, said during a news briefing Monday that officials are no longer anticipating the damage as severe as they were several weeks ago.

Forecast models now suggest Tulare Lake won’t topple about 184 feet above sea level, though officials warned that approaching storms could accelerate snowpack melting and lead to more flooding.

“We are in a much better position than we were several weeks ago,” Ferguson said. “However, we want to strongly emphasize that we are not out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination.”

Tulare Lake was the largest body of freshwater west of the Mississippi River until the late 1800s, when its tributaries were diverted for agricultural irrigation and municipal water use.

The revitalized lake now stretches for about ten miles from bank to bank on agricultural land used to grow almonds, cotton, tomatoes and other crops.

The California Department of Water Resources is working to divert excess water before it flows into the lake bed. The current flood water can remain for two years.