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49-588: The valley in which Friant Dam and Millerton Lake now lie was once the location of the historic town of Millerton . Millerton was the first county seat of Fresno County. In 1880, the first dam on the San Joaquin River was constructed by the Upper San Joaquin Irrigation Company roughly on the present site of Friant Dam. Built of local rock, the dam was an 800-foot (240 m) long, 6-foot (1.8 m) tall structure designed to divert water for

98-725: A capacity of 2 MW, is located at the outlet works on the base of the dam and produces power from water releases that serve local farms along the San Joaquin River directly downstream from Friant Dam, as well as releases to a fish hatchery below the dam and for wildlife management purposes. Because of its relatively small storage capacity relative to the average annual discharge of the San Joaquin River – 520,528 acre-feet (642,062 dam) versus 1,790,000 acre-feet (2,210,000 dam) – Friant Dam often has to release excessive amounts of water that could be otherwise used for irrigation or power generation, also causing downstream damage. From 1981 to 2011, an average of 450,000 acre-feet (560,000 dam)

147-693: A cost of $ 60.8 million. The Friant-Kern Canal begins at the Friant Dam of Millerton Lake, a reservoir on the San Joaquin River north of Fresno , and flows south along the eastern edge of the San Joaquin Valley , ending at the Kern River near Bakersfield . In a typical year, it diverts almost all the flow of the San Joaquin River, leaving the river dry for about 60 miles (97 km) downstream. The Central Valley Project Delta-Mendota Canal replenishes

196-466: A dam would be very expensive, ranging from $ 1000–1500 per acre foot (area farmers currently pay about $ 60 per acre foot). Raising Friant Dam would likely produce similar increases in the cost of irrigation water. By diverting most of the San Joaquin River for irrigation, the Friant Dam has caused about 60 miles (97 km) of the river to run dry except in high water years when floodwaters are spilled from

245-578: A fire broke out and destroyed the Henry Hotel in Millerton. In 1872, the Central Pacific Railroad established a station for its new Southern Pacific line near a farm then owned by Anthony Easterby bounded by the present Chestnut, Belmont, Clovis and California avenues. Soon there was a store and around which grew the town of Fresno Station, later called Fresno. Many Millerton residents, drawn by

294-706: A greater release of water from the Friant Dam into the San Joaquin. The Friant-Kern Canal capacity is 5,000 cu ft/s (140 m /s), gradually decreasing to 2,000 cu ft/s (57 m /s) at its terminus. The canal is built in both concrete-lined and unlined earth sections. It is up to 128 feet (39 m) wide at the top and is 24 feet (7.3 m) wide at the bottom of concrete segments, and 40 to 64 feet (12 to 20 m) wide in earth segments. Water depths range from 11 to 19.9 feet (3.4 to 6.1 m). Friant-Kern canal delivers water to numerous districts, cities, and up to 15,000 family farms. The canal stems from

343-419: A quarry a quarter of a mile away. The blocks were transported via oxen to be used in construction. The building was two stories and contained a courtroom, a jail, as well as offices for the sheriff, assessor, treasurer and clerk. The most notable structures besides the courthouse were Ira McCray's Oak Hotel, Payne's Exchange Saloon and George Greierson's General Merchandise Store. The town began its decline when

392-427: Is required along with 35,000 cubic yards of concrete lining material, 500,000 linear feet of aqualastic sealant and 85,000 cubic yards of riprap. To minimize any possible negative affects to biological resources, construction will occur when canal flows are low enough to avoid in-water work. Construction will also have an effect on air quality but only in the short term. The emission levels have been calculated to be under

441-421: The 117,000 acre-feet (144,000 dam) that is currently released for agricultural purposes. However, the river restoration project will cause a 12–20% reduction in irrigation water delivered from Friant Dam. Millerton, Madera County, California Millerton was a settlement located on the San Joaquin River and was the original county seat of Fresno County . Millerton was populated from about 1853 to

490-577: The 1880s and is now inundated by the waters of Millerton Lake . As part of the California Gold Rush , placer miners explored the San Joaquin River . A man named Cassady set up a placer mining operation, near where the Temperance Flat Dam was proposed to be built, around 1851. The mine became known as Cassady's Bar. Cassady was killed by a local tribe and found on the bank of the river with his legs cut off and his tongue cut out. Despite

539-540: The Friant Dam located in the Sierra Nevada foothills, near the town of Friant. Built by the Bureau of Reclamation, the dam reaches a height of 319 feet and a length of 3,488 feet storing approximately 520,500 acre feet of water. In addition to storing water, the dam produces renewable energy through a 25 MW power plant operated by Friant Power Authority. Friant-Kern canal combats issues such as subsidence by providing water from

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588-459: The Friant-Kern Canal vary across the state. Salmon populations are impacted due to diversion of water from the natural stream flow. Along with depleted stream flows, the dam itself serves as a blockade against salmon traveling upstream in search of appropriate spawning grounds. Due to the diversion of water, dry reaches of riverbed are reported along some portions of the San Joaquin River. Along

637-622: The Friant-Kern and Madera Canals. The Friant-Kern Canal is 151.8 mi (244.3 km) long, extending south from the dam to the Kern River near Bakersfield , and has an initial diversion capacity of 5,000 cubic feet per second (140 m/s); the 35.9-mile (57.8 km) Madera Canal, which has a capacity of up to 1,000 cubic feet per second (28 m/s), travels north from the dam to the Chowchilla River . Together, these canals provide irrigation water to some 837,000 acres (339,000 ha) of

686-460: The Friant-Kern canal water delivery capacity is negatively affected by land subsidence. This reduction in flow rates in the canal impacts both agricultural and groundwater basins within the service area. Decreased flow rates means more groundwater pumping by farmers and less groundwater recharge by state agencies. Both of these contribute to further subsidence and reductions in the ability to transport water during particularly wet years. By April 2017,

735-529: The Madera Canal, the smaller of the two irrigation canals serviced by Friant Dam (the other, the Friant-Kern Canal , would not be completed for another four years), was completed in 1945 and water ran for its entire length for the first time on June 10, with irrigation deliveries commencing one month later. The dam was formally dedicated on July 9, 1949 by California governor Earl Warren , who declared that

784-401: The San Joaquin River at the town of Mendota , and replaces the volume of water being delivered by the Friant-Kern Canal. Average annual throughput is 1,051,000 acre-feet (1.296 km ), with a high of 1,720,000 acre-feet (2.12 km ) in 2005, and a low of 58,000 acre-feet (0.072 km ) in 2015. In the past few years canal flows have been reduced due to river restoration projects requiring

833-480: The San Joaquin River flooded on Christmas Eve, 1867, inundating Millerton. Women and children took refuge in the courthouse and there was no loss of life. However, three out of every four buildings were swept away and farm animals as well as household pets perished. Some residents rebuilt, but most moved. A newspaper named the Weekly Expositor was distributed to Millerton residents starting in 1870. In July 1870,

882-507: The San Joaquin River was diverted through a wooden flume so that work on the foundations could begin. On July 29, the first concrete was poured into the main body of Friant Dam. In order to keep the structure in line, the dam was built in a series of blocks or forms, each measuring 50 feet (15 m) square. Concrete was placed via a massive steel trestle system 210 feet (64 m) high and 2,200 feet (670 m) long, along which ran small powered railcars that delivered buckets of concrete from

931-553: The San Joaquin Valley. In 1990, farmers who received their water from Friant Dam produced more than $ 1.9 billion worth of 90 different kinds of crops. Millerton Lake has a capacity of 520,528 acre-feet (642,062 dam) at normal maximum pool, with a surcharge (above spillway gates, but below the dam crest) capacity of approximately 91,000 acre-feet (112,000 dam) for a total capacity of 611,500 acre-feet (754,300 dam). About 170,000 acre-feet (210,000 dam), or 32.7% of

980-511: The USBR reached an agreement on releasing part of the water currently diverted into the irrigation canals into the San Joaquin River in order to help restore the river and its native fish and wildlife. The first water was released on October 2, 2009 at a rate of 185 cubic feet per second (5.2 m/s). By 2014, these "restoration flows" will be increased to 302,000 acre-feet (373,000 dam) per year, or 417 cubic feet per second (11.8 m/s), on top of

1029-576: The WPB's order. The war, however, did not completely halt construction. Less than a year later, the WPB "[determined] the completion of the Madera Canal and the installation of valves at the Friant Dam, necessary for war-time food and fiber production" – allowing construction to resume on a limited scale. A pair of control valves were borrowed from Hoover Dam , allowing the closure of the river outlets and Millerton Lake began to fill on February 21, 1944. Work on

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1078-509: The canal had subsided a total of twelve feet since its completion in 1949. The FWA estimates that current construction aimed towards fixing the subsidence problem will reduce the delivery of class 2 supplies by about 100,000 acre feet/year. Construction is needed to fix the canal where subsidence has impacted its functionality. Proposed construction consists of the excavation of 400,000 cubic yards of soil and 17,000 cubic yards of rock. Some other materials consist of 450,000 cubic yards of backfill

1127-426: The canal has been postulated to provide an increase of local jobs to an economically depressed region. Myriophyllum hippuroides , also known as western watermilfoil has been impacting the canal for quite some time now . These weeds root themselves and reproduce in the earthen areas which are areas lacking cement canal lining. This weed can also attach itself to cracks in the concrete. So after sometime floating down

1176-459: The capacity of the dam and reservoir and force larger releases downstream, potentially causing damage to riverside property and infrastructure. The dam is also used to generate up to 25 megawatts (MW) of hydroelectric power. The penstock releasing water into the Friant-Kern Canal is fitted with a Kaplan turbine with a capacity of 15 MW, and the Madera Canal penstock is equipped with a smaller 8 MW turbine. The smallest hydroelectric generator, with

1225-414: The convenience of the railroad and worried about flooding, moved to the new community. The Expositor newspaper also moved its plant. Two years after the station was established, in 1874, county residents voted to move the county seat from Millerton to Fresno. The vote totals were Fresno 417; Lisbon 124; Centerville 123; Millerton 93. Millerton was eventually abandoned as a result. When the Friant Dam

1274-452: The dam site to remove more than 1,200,000 cubic yards (920,000 m) of loose material above the bedrock. Before any concrete was laid on the dam's main wall, the underlying rock was extensively grouted to fill in 725 holes and seams that might otherwise cause instability in the foundation. The concrete used in the dam's construction was made from sand and gravel excavated from the San Joaquin River floodplain about 3 miles (4.8 km) below

1323-466: The dam to form Lost Lake. Notably, more than 5,400 ounces (150 kg) of placer gold – worth $ 176,000 at the time – were uncovered in the excavation site. A branch line of the Southern Pacific Railroad delivered this material to a concrete mixing plant, which could produce up to 6,000 cubic yards (4,600 m) of concrete per hour, directly adjacent to the construction site. In July 1940,

1372-463: The dam. In the middle of the Great Depression , the Friant Dam site saw a huge influx of job seekers, many of whom had to live further away in surrounding cities. More than 50,000 people attended the groundbreaking of the dam on November 5, 1939 in a celebration that is now known as "one of the greatest in San Joaquin Valley history". Construction of Friant Dam began with blasting and excavation of

1421-531: The dam. The desiccation of the river has caused the degradation of large stretches of riverside habitat and marshes, and has nearly eliminated the historic chinook salmon run that once numbered "possibly in the range of 200,000 to 500,000 spawners annually". Reduction in flows has also increased the concentration of pesticide and fertilizer runoff in the river contributing to pollution that has further impacted aquatic species. On September 13, 2006, after eighteen years of litigation, environmental groups, fisherman and

1470-634: The edge of Millerton Lake . Friant-Kern Canal The Friant-Kern Canal is a 152 mi (245 km) aqueduct managed by the United States Bureau of Reclamation in Central California to convey water to augment irrigation capacity in Fresno , Tulare , and Kern counties. A part of the Central Valley Project , canal construction began in 1949 and was completed in 1951 at

1519-485: The federal and San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District levels. Fugitive dust suppression is required to reduce air pollution as much as possible. Noise levels will also increase during the time of construction, however, disturbance coordinators will be designated with their contact information provided and all machinery will be fine-tuned and equipped with necessary noise mufflers. Restoring

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1568-470: The fertility of the rich soil, to resist drought, to overcome floods, to provide outdoor recreation, and to generate cheap power that will improve the living conditions of millions of our citizens." – Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes at Friant Dam dedication Friant Dam's primary purpose is to capture the fluctuating flows of the San Joaquin River and divert the water for irrigation through

1617-455: The generation of between 4.7–30.4 MW of additional power. Another proposal to increase storage in the upper San Joaquin River basin is Temperance Flat Dam , which would be located in the San Joaquin River canyon upstream of Friant Dam and impound between 460,000 to 2,775,000 acre-feet (567,000 to 3,423,000 dam) of water. The proposed dam would stand 415 to 840 feet (126 to 256 m) high above

1666-467: The hostilities, miners continued to flow to the San Joaquin River and a settlement called Rootville sprung up along the south bank of the free-flowing San Joaquin River due to the mining and trapping activity. The settlement was located along the Stockton - Los Angeles Road which allowed travelers to visit by stage and freight wagon. McCray's Ferry on the north bank of the river was the means for crossing

1715-568: The irrigation of 250,000 acres (100,000 ha). The project was abandoned in the wake of floods that destroyed the dam two years later. Friant Dam was originally proposed in the 1930s as a main feature of the Central Valley Project (CVP), a federal water project that would involve building an expansive system of dams and canals on the rivers of the Central Valley to provide water for agriculture, with secondary purposes of flood control, municipal supply, and hydroelectric power generation. The CVP

1764-518: The main wall of the dam after an act of the War Production Board (WPB) suspended resources in order to assist U.S. military efforts in World War II . The dam was topped out on June 16, 1942, just under two years after the first concrete was poured. However, the spillway gates, the water release valves and the two irrigation canals Friant was intended to support remained unfinished in the wake of

1813-594: The massive influx of people entering the state, especially between the years 1920–1950. The Central Valley Project was an ambitious project built to address many different problems affecting the state. The CVP was intended to reduce the impacts of flooding, provide water for varying purposes within the valley, distribute water to different urban centers around the region, generate electricity, and to aid in conservation efforts. The entire project consisted of 20 dams and reservoirs which collectively store about 12 million acre feet of water. Environmental impacts associated with

1862-463: The mixing plant. Two gantry cranes lifted the buckets from the cars and poured them onto the forms. In summer 1941, the labor force reached a peak of 1,500, and the monthly record for concrete placement, at 228,000 cubic yards (174,000 m), was set in August. During the dam's construction several Native American burial sites had their graves removed and re-interred. The workforce scrambled to complete

1911-471: The reservoir's regular capacity, is reserved for flood control between October and January to protect against rain floods, while between February and July, this is increased to 390,500 acre-feet (481,700 dam) – 75.0% – to provide space for snowmelt floods. The dam is operated to maintain a flow of 6,500 cubic feet per second (180 m/s) or less on the San Joaquin River at Mendota , 60 miles (97 km) downriver. However, large snowmelt floods often exceed

1960-456: The river at that point. A permanent Army fort named Fort Miller was established about a mile upriver and the settlement was renamed to Millerton . It continued to grow with the prosperity of gold mining and with the protection of the Fort. A hotel was built, as well as livery stables, shops, gambling halls, and many saloons. Millerton was named the original county seat of Fresno County , which

2009-547: The river where the bed is dry, riparian habitats are suffering and native flora and fauna are impacted detrimentally. With dry riverbeds and salmon populations suffering, a lawsuit was filed which led to a settlement urging restoration of the river. The river is replenished by the Delta Mendota Canal, but not before negative impacts are observed. Subsidence is caused by excess or unsustainable removal of groundwater, typically below an aquitard or confining layer. Up to 60% of

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2058-402: The river, and it would capture most of the floodwater that would otherwise be spilled from Friant Dam. However, Temperance Flat has come under heavy controversy because it would flood a large scenic section of the San Joaquin River gorge, negatively affect wildlife in the river and inundate two upstream hydroelectric power plants, causing a net loss in power generation. The water supplied from such

2107-424: The water furnished by Friant Dam and its canals would help the San Joaquin Valley to "become a modern Eden" as water was released into the partially completed Friant-Kern Canal for the first time. More than three thousand people, mostly residents of the San Joaquin Valley, attended the ceremonies. [The dam is] but a lifeline to preserve and enhance our American civilization. This is a line of creation, built to unlock

2156-498: The wetter northernmost part of the state to incentivize farmers to pump less groundwater. The Friant-Kern canal is part of a much larger project called the Central Valley Project or CVP. This water infrastructure system was created for many reasons, one being to ease the detrimental affects associated with excess ground water pumping, particularly by farmers, and to also support the necessary economic development to withstand

2205-533: Was authorized by the 1935 Rivers and Harbors Act , while $ 20 million of initial funding for Friant Dam was provided by the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 . Initial surveys of the Friant Dam site were carried out in November 1935 and continued through early 1936. In January 1938, a worker's camp was established near the town of Friant to house the laborers that would ultimately work on

2254-632: Was completed in 1944, the site of Millerton became inundated by the waters of Millerton Lake . In extreme droughts, when the reservoir shrinks, ruins of the original county seat can still be observed. The granite Millerton courthouse was reconstructed on higher ground in 1965 using funds raised by the Fresno County Centennial Millerton Memorial Committee and funds from the California Legislature. The reconstructed Millerton Courthouse stands on Mariners Point at

2303-416: Was conducted in a very informal fashion, with the officers often taking breaks from their work to meet at a saloon. The Great Flood of 1862 damaged the settlement, as well as many other places in the western states. It was rebuilt but remained within the flood zone despite hills nearby. A courthouse and new jail was erected in 1867, above the high water line. The building was made from granite sourced from

2352-435: Was formed in 1856 when the county was larger than today. The county comprised its current area and all of what became Madera County and parts of what are today San Benito , Tulare , Kings , Inyo , and Mono counties. Election of county officers also took place in 1856. In 1857, the first county-built jail structure was completed but a prisoner demonstrated it was easily escapable due to poor construction. County business

2401-515: Was spilled each year because the reservoir was unable to contain it. The USBR has proposed increasing the height of Friant Dam by up to 140 feet (43 m), nearly tripling the reservoir's storage capacity to 1,390,000 acre-feet (1,710,000 dam). A smaller 60-foot (18 m) raise would increase storage capacity to 860,500 acre-feet (1,061,400 dam), while a 25-foot (7.6 m) raise would increase storage capacity to 652,500 acre-feet (804,800 dam). The increase in height would also allow for

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