Local farmer Paul Betancourt snaps a selfie with the historic Tulare Lake as a backdrop. He went to visit the lake on a recent motorcycle ride, drawn by the fact it was last seen in 1983. Photo by Paul Betancourt

After an unusually wet winter followed by a cooler than average spring, Tulare County and the South Valley are seeing a slow start to summer tourism, but local businesses and organizations are hoping for a boost in visitor numbers as the summer heats up.

Full lakes reduce parking space

Kaweah and Success Lakes, both managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, experienced heightened water levels this year due to winter flooding.

Ryan Watson, deputy operations project manager for Terminus Dam and Lake Kaweah, said that normally, Kaweah’s water levels fluctuate by about 150 feet throughout a regular year.

“When we are at full pool, a lot of our recreation areas do end up being inundated, which always has an impact on our ability to record visitation data,” he said, adding that when areas of the lake are unavailable, visitors are not officially counted due to tourists’ ability to park along the roadside and walk to the lake.

Last month saw 27,000 total vehicles counted in lots compared to more than 60,000 in May 2022.

“Keep in mind, we had more land available [in 2022],” he said. “I can say anecdotally my rangers that are working the weekends have been reporting back to me — ‘It’s been busy, but nothing like it normally is.’”

Watson said a number of factors have contributed to the low numbers this year. Visitors often stop at Kaweah Lake on the way up or down from Sequoia National Park or other local mountain excursions. With several unpredicted shutdowns due to flooding and weather-related damage, that number has dropped significantly.

Watson said earlier this year sediment deposits that washed downstream with the mountain flooding ended up on some commonly used shores, as well as wood debris that still makes its way through the lake.

Some efforts have been made to put together funding packages to deal with wood debris, but there is currently not enough manpower or equipment to handle the debris.

Watson said a majority of the wood debris will be handled naturally by waiting for the wood to become waterlogged and sink to the bottom of the lake, eventually acting as fish habitats.

“It’s kind of getting captured in some of the coves a little bit, but overall, it really doesn’t settle in one place,” he said, adding that the debris has seemed to deter jet skiers.

Floating wood debris poses a hazard. Recently, 67-year-old Marlene Klomp of Clovis died after a boat she was in struck a piece of debris at Pine Flat Lake, causing her to strike her head on the boat, suffering fatal head trauma.

Boaters are advised to use a spotter and follow a 5-miles-per-hour speed limit after sunset.

Other Tulare County events

With the first day of summer officially in the rearview mirror, tourists to the area interested in less lakeside activity can still access a number of local attractions and events throughout Tulare County.

Porterville Chamber of Commerce Member Services Director Rona Kane said that the chamber office has received many questions regarding which roads are open to Sequoia National Park and other mountain attractions.

Kane said the South Valley in particular still faces challenges with road and infrastructure damage, but travelers are still passing through, with Kane saying hotel properties routinely report full parking lots.

“We are going to need a great deal of repairs because of the flooding and the [mud]slides,” Kane said. “We have been redirecting people more towards the central Sequoias, as many of our southern Sequoia roads are out.”

Other local hiking trails, including the Oaks Hiking Trails in the Kaweah Oaks Preserve and Tule River Hiking Trail in Porterville remain open and accessible.

Tulare County Chamber of Commerce CEO Donnette Silva Carter said that several local cities hosted Fourth of July events, with several events staggered to offer as many opportunities for attendees as possible.

Later in July, the Tulare Backyard Brew Fest will return for the second year, following a sellout inaugural event last year. The event, hosted at the International Agri-Center, will take place July 29 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and will feature games, awards, music, a cigar bar and plenty of local favorite brews and food.

“It’s not on the regular portion of the grounds that we use for the World Ag Expo,” Silva Carter said. “They had a sellout crowd last year for that event, and it was the first year, so I anticipate that with this year we’re going to see a whole lot more people coming to this event.”

New lake buzz?

California’s once-dead Tulare Lake made a surprise appearance following the extended heavy rainfall the Valley experienced this winter, and that has led many Valley residents to become curious about the lake, specifically where it’s located and how to see the once-in-a-generation event.

The last time a noticeable amount of consistent water filled Tulare Lake – which dried up in the 1930s after a series of dams cut off the flow of seasonal rainfall which filled the lake – was 1997, when more than 57,000 acres flooded. The lake also saw resurgences in 1983 and 1969.

Representatives from Visit Visalia said they have fielded a number of questions regarding the lake.

“We have had a surprising number of inquiries about Tulare Lake,” said Sherrie Bakke, Executive Director of Visit Visalia. “While there currently is no place for visitors to see the lake, I encourage the Corps of Engineers to establish a viewing area for this once in a lifetime phenomena.”

The lake has made local news recently, with the Kings County Sheriff’s Office and PG&E partnering to examine the lake from an airboat in order to survey the lake’s current condition.

In June, a segment posted by KMPH revealed lobster-sized crayfish in Lemoore.

“There are crawdads in the water and they are huge,” FOX26 News viewer April Parsons said in a Monday segment. “Look like lobsters.”

Locally, Bakke said that people have been showing great interest in the recently reappearing lake — which covers roughly the same amount of space as Lake Tahoe.

Local farmer, educator and Business Journal contributor Paul Betancourt took a recent trip on his motorcycle to see Tulare Lake, drawn by its historic quality as a sight not seen in 40 years.

“I was too busy starting a farm and a family to visit it then,” Betancourt said.