California drought reveals Gold Rush artifacts at Folsom Lake
In another vivid example of California’s ongoing drought and water crisis, the water level is so low at Folsom Lake that Gold rush era relics that typically are submerged are now visible on dry land. … For more than a century before the Folsom Dam was built, the current lake floor in Northern California was used for gold mining and farming. Settlements were destroyed when the reservoir was filled in the mid-1950s, but some old foundations and artifacts remain on the lakebed.