- Friant Dam
Friant Dam is a
concrete gravity dam located near the town ofFriant, California on the upperSan Joaquin River . The dam, completed in 1942, formsMillerton Lake and was built by theU.S. Bureau of Reclamation , which owns and operates the dam. The lake and dam are about 15 miles (24 km) north of downtown Fresno. The lake stores 520,528acre-feet (642,000,000 m³) of water for theirrigation of theSan Joaquin Valley , which is distributed by the Madera and Friant-Kern Canals. Its secondary uses include flood control and recreation. Upstream from the dam is the Big Creek hydroelectric system.The 25 megawatt Friant Power Plant in front of the dam produces
hydroelectricity for the Friant Power Authority. There are two smallerpower plants that produce power with the minimum-flow release water and the water for fishhatchery operations.External links
* [http://www.fwua.org/ Friant Water Authority]
* [http://www.usbr.gov/dataweb/html/friant.html U.S. Bureau of Reclamation - Central Valley Project - Friant Division]
* [http://www.usbr.gov/dataweb/dams/ca10154.htm U.S. Bureau of Reclamation - Friant Dam]
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