Thanks for highlighting a sad truth about the Central Vally. My grandfather came from Texas to Hanford in 1898 to work the rice fields near what is now Kansas Ave on the northern edge of the lake. During wet years the reservoirs do overflow and the lake reappears, over 50 years ago I remember seeing flocks of waterfoul in the millions in the old lakebed but a changing climate and corporate agriculture has brought all that to an end. I miss seeing flocks from horizon to horizon out there, a sight I will probably never see again.
These are really good documentaries, I just watched the San Joaquin River Tales - Documentary. Good stuff, I am very grateful for this work. Great information. Free the water!!!
This is a very sad story. I am blessed with living by one of the largest freshwater lakes East of Mississippi . The Great Lake Michigan. So lucky . Would love to see your lake restored.
Thank you so much Christoper, you do such a good job telling this story. This installment brought me to tears. Your series is so incredibly important, I pray the world can receive this story right now and inspire a shift toward reciprocity with each other and the land. Bless you from Nevada County.
@ 28:44 . . . Art does not mean you don't use it, Art just means you used skill to do something. There's an art to doing almost all work but that does not make all work simply art. There's an art to being a plumber, electrician, brick mason, landscaper, farmer, fisherman . . . it basically means "High quality of conception or execution" There's an art to picking and gathering the best materials to make baskets . . .
The J.G. Boswell Company owns and controls much of the old Tulare Lake bed, and they don't enjoy talk about the lake reappearing again. Just 2 winters ago, they did everything they could to prevent "their" farmland from being flooded again by a historic run-off, and tried diverting the water into other farmers' fields, to save their own. Meanwhile, they cry for more water. How ironic. Here's a good read about them, and how the Tulare Lake was drained, turned into farmland, and how they used politics to get more dams built in the Sierras to benefit farmers--the book is called "The King of California", referring to Mr. Boswell, who came here from back south. The truth is many of these farmers cry for publicly subsidized water, paid for by taxpayers. Then, they sell the crops, many times to overseas buyers (Asia is a HUGE customer, among many overseas...), but they want to keep all the profits, made possible by subsidized water, to themselves. Then, being Republicans, they don't want to pay taxes, and they don't want regulations (while they vastly over pump their groundwater and cause subsidence), and they whine and complain about what they have to pay for their already subsidized water!!! Frankly, it needs to stop. Do we really need to use so much precious water to grow almonds, 75% of which are sent overseas, and do nothing for us? Same for for all the cotton they grow in that lake bed. There are limits to what we can do, and right now, we're beyond maxed out, water-wise. They drain a lake, control the rivers, over pump the ground water...........and then lay a guilt trip on the rest of us to provide them MORE water??! They're crazy, and they don't see the bigger picture. It's high time to cut way back on water thirsty crops in California, return water to the rivers, return the salmon runs (which helps the commercial salmon fisheries and environment), and just bring more balance to the picture. I'm tired of farmers crying for more water, when they waste lots of it. And in case you're wondering, I've worked on farms in Central Valley, and for agricultural companies down there. I've seen the water waste first hand, and I've spoke with farmers. It's time for major changes.
Amen. Thanks for saying that. First thing I thought of was "King of California" book, as you mentioned. I have lived in Tulare County for 30 years now and all I see is the promotion of big ag, everywhere you go (those green stickers you see on pickup trucks "my job depends on Ag"). Farmers know it too, but they don't want to give up the millions (billions total annually) they make each year. We are sending our natural resources out of state and oversees at nature's and our expense.
I think it’s poetic that the indigenous people in this area don’t have a word for “goodby.” Let’s not say goodby to Tulare Lake. We need to bring back this precious ecosystem!! Just because the destruction of Tulare lake happened a few generations ago doesn’t make it right and “just the way it is.” We can do this. We can work and live in harmony with the environment.
Twas called Tule lake by all the folks that I fished it from about 1952 up until about mid 60's. I was 4 years old the first time I fished it. To bad it had to go and most of the other ponds that held much fish from there unto Porterville. The kids now days have nothing much to do. We use to swim and fish ever 5 to ten miles from Porterville to the Tule Lake as we called it . Back then every one I know called it Tule Lake from all the tule's that grew from it. Now every one calls it Tulare Lake after Mr Tulare I guess. Sad thing it could be brought back to life with the wisdom of man, so could all the other wet spots. This whole valley has been over farmed should have been left more on the wild side; greed ruined it. With the brains man has it could be brought back and still have as much farm crops produced around about it. Nature did not destroy it man did. Nature keeps refilling it to the 70's size of it but uhm we know who pumps most of the water up north that they may get greedy gain. O well my version any way.
Hopefully the lake will come back after big snowpack years and maybe the farmers can find a balance to let some areas be natural with some of the water
selenium can be precipitated from a solution, typically by reducing selenium oxyanions (like selenite or selenate) to elemental selenium through the addition of a reducing agent like sodium sulfide, effectively removing it from the aqueous phase as a solid precipitate; this process is often used in wastewater treatment to remove selenium contamination.
What year did the last remnants of Tulare Lake completely dry up? I remember seeing very shallow water for a long distance in the 50’s they said was Tulare Lake. I grew up near there.
I fished it from about 1952 up until about mid 60's. I was 4 years old the first time I fished it. To bad it had to go and most of the other ponds that held much fish from there unto Porterville. the kids now days have nothing much to do. We use to swim and fish ever 5 to ten miles from Porterville to the Tule Lake as we called it . Back then every one I know called it Tule Lake from all the tule's that grew from it. Now every one calls it Tulare Lake after Mr Tulare I guess. Sad thing it could be brought back to life with the wisdom of man so could all the other wet spots. This whole valley has been over farmed should have been left more on the wild side greed ruined it. With the brains man has it could be brought back and still have as much farm crops produced around about it. Nature did not destroy it man did. Nature keeps refilling it to the 70's size of it but uhm we know who pumps most of the water up north that they may get greedy gain. O well my version any way.
Some years ago the biggest tomato products co in the US cancelled all their contracts with US farmers and today they buy all their tomato paste feedstocks from a Chinese tomato co. Many of the tomato farms in this doc may no longer grow tomatoes. !
This "lake" came back for a brief time a couple years back after the epic snowfall we had here in California. We do not get these huge snowpacks very often so unless all farming is stopped (which will not happen) it'll never be the same. There's too much crying over spilt milk in California. One thing bugs me the most is how as a state, water is completely managed wrong. It's the result of too much politics and too much "Green" policy.
In 1975 and 1976 they said it was a 2000 year drought Shasta Lake went down the farthest it ever had a 276 feet just a few years ago they said the same thing just like you’re saying California mostly was a desert
Why do growers plant water-hogging plants and trees when they live in a region that only gets 8 inches of precipitation per year? They expect that GOVERNMENT will bail them out with hydro projects that cost $100s of millions? I'm a California taxpayer and I do NOT want to pay for any of that. Wealthy landowning farmers who get federal subsidies every year need to educate themselves (like at UC Davis or Oregon State U) and modify their practices to fit within their ecosystem. I suggest permaculture practices. Poor business practices of farmers who plant water-thirsty fruit and nut trees, cotton shrubs and grape vines bring about the impoverished towns with poor, undrinkable water quality of the West Side. Then they disc their land, put up annoying signs that blame politicians for the consequences of their own bad management, and plead and cry crocodile tears for the rest of us to bail them out. Permaculture practices utilize the annual rainfall. STOP planting exotic water-hogging crops. If Tulare Lake is allowed to grow back and farmers use only the annual rainfall, then the cycle of flushing out the accumulated salts can regenerate the soils and ecosystem.
Farmers whine about needing more water, only to grow crops they export for private profit. On top of that, they complain about having to pay for SUBSIDIZED water, and then being mostly Republicans, they don't want to pay taxes, which helped pay for the water systems in the first place!! Enough is enough. I've worked on farms down there, and for ag companies, and have spoken with many farmers. They live in denial. They don't see the big picture. They want to socialize the costs of the water they need, but privatize for themselves all the profits. Well, no. Time for big changes, and those changes are in motion. Just this year alone, along the EBMUD watershed, a record number of King Salmon returned--tens of thousands--because of water flow. Everyone has to give a little so we all gain.
Because that’s how it is naturally. When salmon would swim from San Francisco Bay to the middle of the Central Valley until it was destroyed by greedy farmers!
Thanks for highlighting a sad truth about the Central Vally. My grandfather came from Texas to Hanford in 1898 to work the rice fields near what is now Kansas Ave on the northern edge of the lake. During wet years the reservoirs do overflow and the lake reappears, over 50 years ago I remember seeing flocks of waterfoul in the millions in the old lakebed but a changing climate and corporate agriculture has brought all that to an end. I miss seeing flocks from horizon to horizon out there, a sight I will probably never see again.
I've driven along Kansas Ave many times. Unbelievable there were rice fields back then...meaning there was a lot of water! No such thing now. ...
These are really good documentaries, I just watched the San Joaquin River Tales - Documentary. Good stuff, I am very grateful for this work. Great information. Free the water!!!
This was amazing ! Thank you for making this documentary and sharing it with the world.
People with a heart would call this an environmental disaster.
This is a very sad story.
I am blessed with living by one of the largest freshwater lakes East of Mississippi .
The Great Lake Michigan.
So lucky . Would love to see your lake restored.
I thank you so much for sharing this production. I know the road was difficult.
Thank you so much Christoper, you do such a good job telling this story. This installment brought me to tears. Your series is so incredibly important, I pray the world can receive this story right now and inspire a shift toward reciprocity with each other and the land. Bless you from Nevada County.
@ 28:44 . . . Art does not mean you don't use it, Art just means you used skill to do something. There's an art to doing almost all work but that does not make all work simply art. There's an art to being a plumber, electrician, brick mason, landscaper, farmer, fisherman . . . it basically means "High quality of conception or execution" There's an art to picking and gathering the best materials to make baskets . . .
The J.G. Boswell Company owns and controls much of the old Tulare Lake bed, and they don't enjoy talk about the lake reappearing again. Just 2 winters ago, they did everything they could to prevent "their" farmland from being flooded again by a historic run-off, and tried diverting the water into other farmers' fields, to save their own. Meanwhile, they cry for more water. How ironic. Here's a good read about them, and how the Tulare Lake was drained, turned into farmland, and how they used politics to get more dams built in the Sierras to benefit farmers--the book is called "The King of California", referring to Mr. Boswell, who came here from back south.
The truth is many of these farmers cry for publicly subsidized water, paid for by taxpayers. Then, they sell the crops, many times to overseas buyers (Asia is a HUGE customer, among many overseas...), but they want to keep all the profits, made possible by subsidized water, to themselves. Then, being Republicans, they don't want to pay taxes, and they don't want regulations (while they vastly over pump their groundwater and cause subsidence), and they whine and complain about what they have to pay for their already subsidized water!!! Frankly, it needs to stop. Do we really need to use so much precious water to grow almonds, 75% of which are sent overseas, and do nothing for us? Same for for all the cotton they grow in that lake bed. There are limits to what we can do, and right now, we're beyond maxed out, water-wise. They drain a lake, control the rivers, over pump the ground water...........and then lay a guilt trip on the rest of us to provide them MORE water??! They're crazy, and they don't see the bigger picture.
It's high time to cut way back on water thirsty crops in California, return water to the rivers, return the salmon runs (which helps the commercial salmon fisheries and environment), and just bring more balance to the picture. I'm tired of farmers crying for more water, when they waste lots of it.
And in case you're wondering, I've worked on farms in Central Valley, and for agricultural companies down there. I've seen the water waste first hand, and I've spoke with farmers. It's time for major changes.
well said
Amen. Thanks for saying that. First thing I thought of was "King of California" book, as you mentioned. I have lived in Tulare County for 30 years now and all I see is the promotion of big ag, everywhere you go (those green stickers you see on pickup trucks "my job depends on Ag"). Farmers know it too, but they don't want to give up the millions (billions total annually) they make each year. We are sending our natural resources out of state and oversees at nature's and our expense.
I think it’s poetic that the indigenous people in this area don’t have a word for “goodby.” Let’s not say goodby to Tulare Lake. We need to bring back this precious ecosystem!! Just because the destruction of Tulare lake happened a few generations ago doesn’t make it right and “just the way it is.” We can do this. We can work and live in harmony with the environment.
I was taught to never say goodbye but say I'll see you later.😊
Great work
It is fun to look at the old photos, but 2 things the photos do not convey is the heat of the summer and the smell....
I was born in Bakersfield but didn't know about Tulare Lake until I moved away and UTUBE educated me about it's history. Thanks UTUBE.
Great presentation...really important to know production and copyright dates on this and the San Joaquin River presentation.
Good production, but sad. Thanks for posting.
Please cover the owens Valley next.
We have too much artificial hostility in this world. 😢 I hope we can repect mother nature and each other.
Twas called Tule lake by all the folks that I fished it from about 1952 up until about mid 60's. I was 4 years old the first time I fished it. To bad it had to go and most of the other ponds that held much fish from there unto Porterville.
The kids now days have nothing much to do. We use to swim and fish ever 5 to ten miles from Porterville to the Tule Lake as we called it .
Back then every one I know called it Tule Lake from all the tule's that grew from it. Now every one calls it Tulare Lake after Mr Tulare I guess. Sad thing it could be brought back to life with the wisdom of man, so could all the other wet spots. This whole valley has been over farmed should have been left more on the wild side; greed ruined it.
With the brains man has it could be brought back and still have as much farm crops produced around about it. Nature did not destroy it man did. Nature keeps refilling it to the 70's size of it but uhm we know who pumps most of the water up north that they may get greedy gain. O well my version any way.
Greed never wins
Hopefully the lake will come back after big snowpack years and maybe the farmers can find a balance to let some areas be natural with some of the water
selenium can be precipitated from a solution, typically by reducing selenium oxyanions (like selenite or selenate) to elemental selenium through the addition of a reducing agent like sodium sulfide, effectively removing it from the aqueous phase as a solid precipitate; this process is often used in wastewater treatment to remove selenium contamination.
Excellent video, a very sad reality. I pray we as a people can at least fix what has been nearly destroyed. 😟
What year did the last remnants of Tulare Lake completely dry up? I remember seeing very shallow water for a long distance in the 50’s they said was Tulare Lake. I grew up near there.
When was this filmed?
Several years ago at least. That tomato plant he is walking through at 25:00 has since been mostly demolished.
Cali 20th congressional district, Kevin McCarthy, ok got ya. How many years did he screw over that area?
What year was this documentary made?
I fished that lake until the last drop was gone in the 80s. You could almost walk across the fish at the end.
I fished it from about 1952 up until about mid 60's. I was 4 years old the first time I fished it. To bad it had to go and most of the other ponds that held much fish from there unto Porterville. the kids now days have nothing much to do. We use to swim and fish ever 5 to ten miles from Porterville to the Tule Lake as we called it . Back then every one I know called it Tule Lake from all the tule's that grew from it. Now every one calls it Tulare Lake after Mr Tulare I guess. Sad thing it could be brought back to life with the wisdom of man so could all the other wet spots. This whole valley has been over farmed should have been left more on the wild side greed ruined it. With the brains man has it could be brought back and still have as much farm crops produced around about it. Nature did not destroy it man did. Nature keeps refilling it to the 70's size of it but uhm we know who pumps most of the water up north that they may get greedy gain. O well my version any way.
Did anybody else notice no fat kids in the school picture...?🍔🍟🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🥤🍫🍰🎂🍭
Some years ago the biggest tomato products co in the US cancelled all their contracts with US farmers and today they buy all their tomato paste feedstocks from a Chinese tomato co. Many of the tomato farms in this doc may no longer grow tomatoes.
!
This "lake" came back for a brief time a couple years back after the epic snowfall we had here in California. We do not get these huge snowpacks very often so unless all farming is stopped (which will not happen) it'll never be the same. There's too much crying over spilt milk in California. One thing bugs me the most is how as a state, water is completely managed wrong. It's the result of too much politics and too much "Green" policy.
Why would the farmer use recycled water on produce?
It just recirculate it over the produce,Are rinse process over again
In 1975 and 1976 they said it was a 2000 year drought Shasta Lake went down the farthest it ever had a 276 feet just a few years ago they said the same thing just like you’re saying California mostly was a desert
Why are Democrats letting precious water go into the ocean when We NEED it?
Why do growers plant water-hogging plants and trees when they live in a region that only gets 8 inches of precipitation per year? They expect that GOVERNMENT will bail them out with hydro projects that cost $100s of millions? I'm a California taxpayer and I do NOT want to pay for any of that. Wealthy landowning farmers who get federal subsidies every year need to educate themselves (like at UC Davis or Oregon State U) and modify their practices to fit within their ecosystem. I suggest permaculture practices. Poor business practices of farmers who plant water-thirsty fruit and nut trees, cotton shrubs and grape vines bring about the impoverished towns with poor, undrinkable water quality of the West Side. Then they disc their land, put up annoying signs that blame politicians for the consequences of their own bad management, and plead and cry crocodile tears for the rest of us to bail them out. Permaculture practices utilize the annual rainfall. STOP planting exotic water-hogging crops. If Tulare Lake is allowed to grow back and farmers use only the annual rainfall, then the cycle of flushing out the accumulated salts can regenerate the soils and ecosystem.
Farmers whine about needing more water, only to grow crops they export for private profit. On top of that, they complain about having to pay for SUBSIDIZED water, and then being mostly Republicans, they don't want to pay taxes, which helped pay for the water systems in the first place!! Enough is enough. I've worked on farms down there, and for ag companies, and have spoken with many farmers. They live in denial. They don't see the big picture. They want to socialize the costs of the water they need, but privatize for themselves all the profits. Well, no. Time for big changes, and those changes are in motion.
Just this year alone, along the EBMUD watershed, a record number of King Salmon returned--tens of thousands--because of water flow. Everyone has to give a little so we all gain.
Because that’s how it is naturally. When salmon would swim from San Francisco Bay to the middle of the Central Valley until it was destroyed by greedy farmers!
Water and food is Life!
Food is required for life! @@californiamade5608
I'd love to watch this without the annoying guitar.