Hydrology of the Tulare Basin
The Tulare Basin hydrologic unit includes valley floor alluvial fans of the Kings, Kaweah, Tule and Kern Rivers, several lesser streams from the Sierra foothills, the historic lake bed of the great Tulare Lake and other historic lakes, and the southwestern uplands. While most Sierra Nevada rivers flow into the San Joaquin Valley and ultimately out to the Pacific Ocean, the four major southern Sierra rivers: the Kings, Kaweah, Tule and Kern, as well as a number of lesser streams, including Deer Creek, White River, and Poso Creek, all flow west across the Central Valley into the Tulare Basin's terminal lakes.
These rivers and creeks historically formed broad deltaic fans as they emerged from the foothills and flowed, undammed, to the Tulare Basin in dozens of channels and sloughs that shifted periodically during flood events. Today, dams manage water flow on the Kings, Kaweah, Tule and Kern rivers. The Tulare Basin originally contained five lakes: Tulare Lake, historically the largest freshwater lake in the contiguous United States west of the Mississippi River, Kern Lake, Buena Vista Lake, Goose Lake, and Summit Lake. These lakes were connected via a system of shallow, slow-moving, tule-lined sloughs. In years of heavy rains, there are reports of people traveling by boat from the Tulare Lake all the way to San Francisco.
Today, the Tulare Basin receives water from five sources: precipitation, runoff from local rivers and streams, groundwater, State Water Project delivery, and Central Valley Project delivery. During much of the time, irrigation and other water supply requirements determine the quantity and movement of water in the Tulare Basin. In years of high winter rainfall and spring snowmelt runoff, flood control concerns influence water movement. In average and drier years, surface water moves throughout the Basin primarily by gravity flow in natural stream channels and constructed canals or ditches. In some locations, pumping distributes irrigation water or drains water.
A variety of entities manage water in the Tulare Basin: public agencies (irrigation, water storage, drainage, and other districts), water banks, and private landowners. This requires careful planning and balance to provide water for diverse needs including wildlife habitat and wetlands, agriculture, groundwater banking and recharge, subsurface irrigation tailwater disposal, flood control, storage, conveyance, and other purposes.
Read more about the history of the Tulare Basin's distinct hydrology.
Read about the unique habitats that characterize the Tulare Basin.
These rivers and creeks historically formed broad deltaic fans as they emerged from the foothills and flowed, undammed, to the Tulare Basin in dozens of channels and sloughs that shifted periodically during flood events. Today, dams manage water flow on the Kings, Kaweah, Tule and Kern rivers. The Tulare Basin originally contained five lakes: Tulare Lake, historically the largest freshwater lake in the contiguous United States west of the Mississippi River, Kern Lake, Buena Vista Lake, Goose Lake, and Summit Lake. These lakes were connected via a system of shallow, slow-moving, tule-lined sloughs. In years of heavy rains, there are reports of people traveling by boat from the Tulare Lake all the way to San Francisco.
Today, the Tulare Basin receives water from five sources: precipitation, runoff from local rivers and streams, groundwater, State Water Project delivery, and Central Valley Project delivery. During much of the time, irrigation and other water supply requirements determine the quantity and movement of water in the Tulare Basin. In years of high winter rainfall and spring snowmelt runoff, flood control concerns influence water movement. In average and drier years, surface water moves throughout the Basin primarily by gravity flow in natural stream channels and constructed canals or ditches. In some locations, pumping distributes irrigation water or drains water.
A variety of entities manage water in the Tulare Basin: public agencies (irrigation, water storage, drainage, and other districts), water banks, and private landowners. This requires careful planning and balance to provide water for diverse needs including wildlife habitat and wetlands, agriculture, groundwater banking and recharge, subsurface irrigation tailwater disposal, flood control, storage, conveyance, and other purposes.
Read more about the history of the Tulare Basin's distinct hydrology.
Read about the unique habitats that characterize the Tulare Basin.