Flood in California, June 1 to 30, 1998

The above normal snowpack in the Southern Sierra Nevada led to an excellent water year for the Central and Southern San Joaquin Valley agricultural areas, generally. The above normal water runoff filled reservoirs and the delay in the annual snowmelt usually occurring in late April and Early May occurred in mid-June. Unfortunately, the Kings, Kaweah, and Tule Rivers ran strong and limitations on water pumping and diversion capabilities was exceeded thereby leading to the reformation of old Tulare Lake. Over 32,000 acres of bottom land used for farming primarily south of Corcoran have been reclaimed by the waters with an estimated loss to production agriculture and some structures in Kings County. A $1M office complex near El Rico is under 5' of water. (The recent total ag output for Kings County averages $800M per annum and damage figures for agriculture have been revised upward to $100M from the previous quoted figure of $73.6M in the May report).