TULARE COUNTY, Calif. (KERO) — Roads submerged. Homes surrounded by water. Chicken, dairy, and produce farms evacuated. All of this after a lake was resurrected in Tulare County.
Tulare Lake returned after a series of storms this past winter and because of what some say was poor water management. Now, the lake could impact the prices on food nationwide.
It all began with 31 atmospheric rivers blasting Northern California this winter and a record 7,800 inches of snow in the Sierra Nevada which is still slowly melting.
After years of extreme drought, all that water has filled critical reservoirs to full capacity. But now that water is flooding miles and miles of valuable farmland.
Just a year ago, the region was growing up to 18 percent of the nation's pistachios, and between Kings and Tulare counties more cotton and milk from cows than any other county in the United States.
Kings County Sheriff David Robinson says they expect the lake to be here for at least a year if not two.
"The water's gonna be here for a while. And so, you know, in our area, they rotate crops, you know, four to five times a year, and so we're gonna lose out on that crop rotation as well."
And underneath it all at least $140 million in agricultural losses so far.
Dusty Ference, the executive director of the Kings County Farm Bureau says that will have an impact on all of us.
"Price will be affected because availability will be affected. The number of products on a store shelf. Not only for America but consumers around the world are likely to see price increases because of what's happening here."
The lake has reached its peak and it will slowly begin to recede from here. But roads in the area are still impassable with some areas seeing water up to 15 feet deep.
