The Friant Division is a centerpiece of the original Central Valley Project plan. It irrigates more than a million acres along the valley's east side between Arvin and Chowchilla through the Friant-Kern and Madera canals with San Joaquin River water diverted at Friant Dam.
Friant Dam and Millerton Lake
Friant Dam and Millerton Lake, 16 miles northeast of downtown Fresno, provide the water that supplies the Friant-Kern and Madera canals. The 319-foot-high straight concrete gravity-type dam was completed in 1944. The lake is fairly small. Reservoir capacity is 520,500 acre-feet (although 135,000 acre-feet of that amount is "dead storage," below the canals' intakes and not available for irrigation use). The region served from Friant Dam and Millerton Lake originally had limited surface water supplies or none at all.
Friant-Kern and Madera Canals
The Friant-Kern Canal flows 152 miles between Friant Dam and the Kern River in Bakersfield. The canal serves a highly productive farming region and communities along the valley's east side as far as Arvin in Kern County. The canal's initial capacity is 5,300 cubic feet per second and gradually diminishes.
The Madera Canal stretches northwesterly 36 miles, from Friant to Ash Slough near Chowchilla. Its initial capacity is 1,275 cubic feet per second.
How The System Works
The Friant system is made possible by a unique water exchange that was a centerpiece of the Central Valley Project's original plan.
Under normal conditions, 840,000 acre-feet of Northern California water is delivered to Mendota Pool through the Delta-Mendota Canal for use by four west side agencies with historic San Joaquin River water rights.
As a result, a maximum of 800,000 acre-feet of water may be diverted for the firm Friant supply known as Class 1 water. Class 2 water develops after Class 1 demands have been met. While the Class 2 contract limits are 1,400,000 acre-feet, the range varies from zero to the full 1,400,000 and averages approximately 600,000 acre-feet annually.
Water Service Contractors
There are 28 long-term Friant Division water service contractors. They include 23 agricultural water providers and five municipal and industrial contractors. Another eight agencies have Cross Valley Canal water exchange contracts capable of importing more than 128,000 acre-feet of additional water annually into the Friant service area from Northern California.
Groundwater Recharge
Groundwater recharge is of great importance to the Friant Division and was one of the project's original objectives. Friant's two-class system of water deliveries is based upon the conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater. In wet years, up to 1,400,000 acre-feet of Class 2 San Joaquin River water is delivered to many Friant districts. A great deal of Class 2 water is used to irrigate in lieu of pumping. Several Friant districts use percolation basins and channels to recharge the groundwater reservoir by 'banking' surface water. In dry years when little or no Class 2 water is available, the 'banked' groundwater can be pumped for irrigation.
Continue to view Friant Water System supply chart
Click here to download Friant Water System service area map. (628kb pdf)