Friant Dam
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Friant Dam is a concrete gravity dam located near the town of Friant, California on the upper San Joaquin River. The dam, completed in 1942, forms Millerton Lake and was built by the U.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 520,528 acre-feet (642,000,000 m³) of water for the irrigation of the San 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 smaller power plants that produce power with the minimum-flow release water and the water for fish hatchery operations.
