Once the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River, Tulare Lake in central California will begin to refill amidst continued heavy rain and flooding in the state. The lake has long been dry because of water diversions.

The Army Corps of Engineers ordered flood releases into the dry lakebed from the Kings River. This is a rare move that will convey water through the Kings River Water Association onto the lakebed. The river releases are expected to last indefinitely, according to Kings River Conservation District.

Water releases from Pine Flat Dam near Fresno will move down the Kings River and make their way to the lake bottom, which is typically farmed each year for crops including cotton, canning tomatoes, and safflower. Water releases into Tulare Lake have been happening already from the Kaweah and Tule rivers in Tulare County, along with several other tributaries flowing from the southern Sierra Nevada.

According to a statement from KRCD, high Kings River flows have been common since early January when the current series of storm events began bringing above-average amounts of snow and rain to the Sierra Nevada, and repeated heavy rainfall across the San Joaquin Valley. Many of these storms have been fueled by tropically spawned atmospheric rivers, coupled with effects of very cold low-pressure systems from the Gulf of Alaska.

Tulare Lake sits at the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and has no outflow. It’s use for flood control means thousands of acres of farmland in the region will go unplanted this year. Flooding in the region has already inundated small towns and affected farms in Tulare, Kings, and Kern counties. Numerous dairies have been forced to relocate cattle from the region as flooding has also impacted food processing and other facilities.