Operations and Usage
Friant Dam's primary purpose is to capture the fluctuating flows of the San Joaquin River and divert the water for irrigation through the Friant-Kern and Madera Canals. The Friant-Kern Canal is 151.8 miles (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 m3/s); the 35.9-mile (57.8 km) Madera Canal, which has a capacity of up to 1,000 cubic feet per second (28 m3/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 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 dam³) at normal maximum pool, with a surcharge (above spillway gates, but below the dam crest) capacity of approximately 91,000 acre feet (112,000 dam³) for a total capacity of 611,500 acre feet (0.7543 km3). About 170,000 acre feet (0.21 km3), or 32.7% of 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 dam³) – 75.0% – to provide space for snowmelt floods. The dam is operated to maintain a flow of 6,500 cubic feet per second (180 m3/s) or less on the San Joaquin River at Mendota, 60 miles (97 km) downriver. However, large snowmelt floods often exceed 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 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.
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