San Joaquin River

The San Joaquin River is one of the largest rivers in the state of California. It originates high on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada, in the Ansel Adams Wilderness near Mammoth Mountain. The San Joaquin River drains most of the area from the southern border of Yosemite, south to Kings Canyon National Park, making it the second largest river drainage in the state. Only the Sacramento River is larger. The San Joaquin River's tributaries include the Stanislaus River, Tuolumne River, Merced River, Calaveras River and Mokelumne River. They are perhaps the most heavily dammed and diverted rivers in the world.

Related Topics:
River - California - Sierra Nevada - Ansel Adams Wilderness - Mammoth Mountain - Yosemite - Kings Canyon National Park - River drainage - Sacramento River - Stanislaus River - Tuolumne River - Merced River - Calaveras River - Mokelumne River - Dam

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It begins from the Thousand Island Lake on Mount Ritter and emerges from the foothills at what was once the town of Millerton, the location of Friant Dam since 1944, which forms Millerton Lake. The river passes through a narrow valley of which John Muir once said: "Certainly this Joaquin Canyon is the most remarkable in many ways of all I have entered."

Related Topics:
Friant Dam - John Muir

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The river flows west to the trough of the Central Valley, where it is joined by the Sierra's other great rivers and then flows north to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and then San Francisco Bay. Water from the river is used to irrigate 1,500 square miles of productive farmland on the east side of the Central Valley where 200 kinds of produce are raised from oranges to cotton. However due to water consumption which lets only 5% of historic levels into the riverbed, in most recent years the river doesn't reach its mouth but runs dry about 37 miles below Friant Dam. The Stockton Deep Water Channel makes the lower reach of the river navigable for ocean freighters as far inland as Stockton. However, sedimentation, particularly that caused by hydraulic mining has greatly reduced the San Joaquin River system's navigability.

Related Topics:
Central Valley - Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta - San Francisco Bay - Orange - Cotton - Channel - Navigable - Stockton - Sedimentation - Hydraulic mining

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Since the mid-19th century, the waters of the San Joaquin have been extensively manipulated and diverted for human use. Its primary uses are hydroelectricity production and water consumption, especially irrigation. It is a preferred source of drinking water, and it is used for groundwater recharge. As of 2005, the Metropolitan Water District which serves Los Angeles was negotiating a swap of San Joaquin water for less pure water from their reservoirs.

Related Topics:
Hydroelectricity - Irrigation - Drinking water - Groundwater - Los Angeles

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The river once supported the southernmost salmon run in North America. As a result of the water diversion and consumption, by 1928, the California Department of Fish and Game had issued a bulletin reporting that there were "very few" salmon remaining in the San Joaquin River above the Merced River and the "historical" salmon fishery that once existed had been "severely depleted." Although some sources claim that the river may have once supported large runs of both fall-run and spring-run Chinook salmon -- up to 300,000 returning adults annually -- these claims appear to be greatly exaggerated, given the river's hydrology, San Joaquin Valley temperatures, and the impacts of these factors on available fish habitat. An official with the California Department of Fish and Game stated in 1930s that the spawning gravels in the river were only sufficient to support, at most, about 15,000 returning fish. During that same time (late 1930s - early 1940s), the salmon counts taken by the California Department of Fish and Game at the Mendota Dam fish ladder showed about 3,000-7,000 salmon returning each year to spawn. Steelhead trout may have also been present in the river in the 19th century, although there is no known evidence to confirm this hypothesis. In 2004, a federal court ruled the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in violation of state law for not letting enough water flow to maintain the historic salmon population.

Related Topics:
Salmon - North America - Chinook salmon - Steelhead - U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

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