Ancient lake returns to California’s Death Valley after vanishing thousands of years ago

An ancient lake that vanished from California’s Death Valley National Park thousands of years ago has made a rare return after the area was soaked by record-setting rainfall.

Recent storms have transformed Badwater Basin — which lies 282 feet below sea level and marks the lowest point on the continent — into a shallow lake, according to a Dec. 4 news release from the National Park Service.

The basin, widely known as ‘Lake Manly,’ was once a vast Ice Age lake that stretched 100 miles and plunged 600 feet deep more than 100,000 years ago. 

The enormous lake dried up as the climate warmed, the Los Angeles Times reported.

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Badwater Basin, the site of Lake Manly, is viewed showing the lake receding due to evaporation on April 23, 2024, near Furnace Creek, California.  (George Rose/Getty Images)

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But after months of unusually heavy storms, water has once again filled the ancient lakebed.

Between September and December, Death Valley received 2.41 inches of rain, including a record-breaking 1.76 inches in November alone, according to the National Park Service.

“These fall storms brought more rain than Death Valley typically receives in an entire year,” the National Park Service said. 

People walk on the salt flats around Badwater Basin, home to Lake Manly, near Furnace Creek, Calif., April 23, 2024.  (George Rose/Getty Images)

Lake Manly last resurfaced in 2023, when Hurricane Hilary dropped 2.2 inches of rain on Death Valley. Then, in February 2024, an atmospheric river delivered another 1.5 inches, deepening the basin enough for people to kayak, the LA Times reported.

The current lake “is much smaller and shallower than the one that formed after the remnants of Hurricane Hilary passed through the park,” the National Park Service noted.

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Kayakers paddle on Lake Manly in Death Valley National Park in California. (Bridget Bennett for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

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An employee at the Death Valley Inn noted that although the lake is not very deep, business has increased 20% to 30% since it re-emerged, according to the LA Times.

“It’s more like a very, very large riverbed without the flow — a wading pool maybe,” the employee told the LA Times.