Friant Dam

Friant Dam
CountryUnited States
LocationMadera/Fresno Counties, California
Coordinates37°00′02″N 119°42′19″W / 37.00056°N 119.70528°W / 37.00056; -119.70528
Construction began1937; 87 years ago (1937)
Opening date1942; 82 years ago (1942)
Owner(s)Central Valley Project United States Bureau of Reclamation
Dam and spillways
Type of damConcrete gravity
ImpoundsSan Joaquin River
Height319 ft (97 m)[1]
Length3,488 ft (1,063 m)[1]
Width (base)267 ft (81 m)[1]
Spillway typeGated overflow, 1 center flotation drum gate, 2 obermeyer pneumatically actuated gates.
Spillway capacity83,000 cu ft/s (2,400 m3/s)[2]
Reservoir
CreatesMillerton Lake
Total capacity520,528 acre⋅ft (642,062 dam3)[2]
Inactive capacity120,000 acre⋅ft (150,000 dam3)[3]
Catchment area1,638 sq mi (4,240 km2)[4]
Surface area4,900 acres (2,000 ha)[2]
Power Station
Turbines1x 15 MW, 1x 8 MW, 1x 2 MW[4]
Installed capacity25 MW[4]
Annual generation81,409,000 KWh
Friant Dam & Millerton Lake, 2012

Friant Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the San Joaquin River in central California in the United States, on the boundary of Fresno and Madera Counties. It was built between 1937 and 1942 as part of a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) water project to provide irrigation water to the southern San Joaquin Valley. The dam impounds Millerton Lake, a 4,900-acre (2,000 ha) reservoir about 15 miles (24 km) north of Fresno.

  1. ^ a b c "Friant Dam – Dimensions". Friant Division Project. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. 2009-06-04. Retrieved 2012-04-04.
  2. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference FriantDivision was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Ritzema, Randall S.; Newlin, Brad D.; Van Lienden, Brian J. (October 2001). "Appendix H: Infrastructure" (PDF). CALVIN Project. University of California Davis. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-11-06. Retrieved 2014-01-25.
  4. ^ a b c "Draft Background Report on Friant Dam Operations" (PDF). San Joaquin River Restoration Program. 2008-02-07. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-10-18. Retrieved 2012-04-04.