Delta-Mendota Canal is a 117-mile-long canal in Northern California. It is part of the Central Valley Project and its purpose is to replace the water in the San Joaquin River that is diverted into Madera Canal and Friant-Kern Canal at Friant Dam. The canal begins at the Tracy Pumping Plant, which pumps water up 197 feet from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The canal runs south along the western edge of the San Joaquin Valley, parallel to the California Aqueduct for most of its journey, but it diverges to the east after passing San Luis Reservoir, which receives some of its water. The water is pumped from the canal and into Oneill Forebay, and then it is pumped into San Luis Reservoir by the Gianelli Pumping-Generating Plant. Occasionally, water from Oneill Forebay is released into the canal. The canal ends at Mendota Pool, on the San Joaquin River near the town of Mendota, 30 miles west of Fresno. The canal has an initial capacity of 4,600 cubic feet per second, but it gradually decreases to 3,211 cubic feet per second at the terminus.

The canal was completed in 1951 and is operated by the United States Bureau of Reclamation and the Delta-Mendota Water Authority, which is in charge of maintaining the quality of the water that is discharged from the south end of the canal.

References

• United States Bureau of Reclamation

Canals in California