Ghost town exposed by California drought disappears again under water

The town was previously used in movies as an Old West set

A long-dead California town has returned to its watery grave after briefly reappearing thanks to the state's drought.

Whiskey Flat began as a gold mining town in the 1800s and later was used in the filming of Western movies between the 1930s and early 1950s, according to SFGate. It was once the home to the Big Blue Gold Mine, which operated near the Kern River. Despite its prohibition on alcohol, one man found a way to smuggle drinks to the miners in the town, earning it the name Whiskey Flats.

The town was eventually renamed in 1864 to Old Kernville to distance itself from association with "demon rum," according to Sierra Nevada Geotourism.

Decades later, when the state built the Lake Isabella reservoir in 1953, the abandoned prospector town was submerged.

As drought conditions beginning in 2020 left the state choked for water, Lake Isabella began to empty. By September 2022, the lake's waters had receded enough to reveal the old mining town. At the time of the town's reemergence Lake Isabella was only at eight per cent of its capacity.

Snow covers the shores and surrounding area of Lake Isabella, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2002. ((AP Photo/The Bakersfield Californian, Dan Ocampo))

The town's return was short-lived; in a much-needed reprieve from the drought, California experienced a historically wet and cold winter, leaving the state with a substantial snowpack — the snow that accumulates in the mountains and melts to fill lakes and rivers throughout the state.

And melt it did; as the cold waters followed eons-old paths to reservoirs and streams and creeks that fed the state's larger bodies of water, it began to fill Lake Isabella once again.

And once again, Whiskey Flat disappeared beneath the waves.

The town's rapid emergence and subsequent return to the depths reflect the "whiplash" effect created by the state's increasingly extreme climate conditions. Between 2020 and 2023, California has experienced both extreme drought and extreme precipitation, leading to catastrophic flooding in some regions.

In an April press release, Karla Nemeth, the director of the state's department of water resources, pointed to the rapidly changing conditions as evidence that "California's climate is becoming more extreme."

While the state’s substantial snowpack submerged Whiskey Flat, another California town – this one still very much alive – is afraid a long-dead lake's rebirth may spell its doom.

Allenworth, population 600, sits on the shores of a long-dry lake in the San Joaquin Valley. Tulare Lake, as it was once known, was drained by agricultural canals a century ago. However, much like Lake Isabella, melting snow has been refilling the lake bed, leaving residents fearful that their town may go the way of Whiskey Flat.

The lake bed was formerly home to pistachio and almond groves, many of which are now underwater. Tulare Lake's return threatens both the livelihoods and the homes of tens of thousands who live in the region. Experts believe the lake will exist for at least two years, and is likely to continue to grow as snow continues to melt and fill the basin, according to the Guardian.

State and local officials have tried to stay the rising water through the use of sandbags, plywood, and large rocks. But with a snowpack estimated to hold the equivalent of more than 60 inches of rain, those measures may not be enough to stop Tulare Lake's homecoming.