The Fresno River (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

for "ash tree") is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...

Central California Central California is generally thought of as the middle third of the state, north of Southern California, which includes Los Angeles, and south of Northern California, which includes San Francisco. It includes the northern portion of the S ...

and a major tributary of the

San Joaquin River The San Joaquin River (; es, Río San Joaquín) is the longest river of Central California. The long river starts in the high Sierra Nevada, and flows through the rich agricultural region of the northern San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suis ...

. It runs approximately from the Sierra Nevada Range to the San Joaquin River if measured from the source of Rainier Creek, near Raymond Mountain in Yosemite National Park. Although called the 'Fresno' River, it is one of the largest and longest river systems in Madera County.

Course

Headwaters: The Fresno River forms in the Oakhurst valley, near the western border of city limits. The primary source of the Fresno River is Lewis Fork Creek, which gathers water far northeastward into the hills adjacent to Fish Camp. Lewis Fork Creek itself has a major tributary from Nelder Creek, coming from the lower-montane Nelder Grove area and Speckerman Mountain (7,600 ft). The other major tributary is China Creek, which acts as a drainage for the ridges around the Teaford Saddle. After Oakhurst, the Fresno River runs northwest until it reaches the end of the sloped valley at the calm topography of the Fresno Flats. There the valley and hills start to meet, and the Fresno crosses Potter Ridge at around 2,000 feet. Foothills: As the river carves its way through the ridge, it creates several windy canyons and gulches. This area was mildly popular during the Central Sierra era of the Gold Rush, throughout the early to mid-1850s. Past the ridge, the Fresno River descends the foothills mildly. The harsh canyons ease up and start to widen. It crosses Road 415 at around 1,000 feet elevation, an intersection known as the Fresno Crossing. Hensley Lake: Once the Fresno River gets out of the foothills, it creates a gently sloped river valley down to the border of the Central Valley. At one of the widest sections of the river, Hidden Dam was constructed and Hensley Lake created. Now a popular recreation spot, the lake covers a considerable area when full from late spring snow melts. Central Valley: Below the lake, the river flows southwest to Madera, then west to the

Eastside Bypass East Side or Eastside may refer to: Places Australia * East Side, Northern Territory Canada * Eastside, Ontario, a neighborhood in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario * Downtown Eastside, Vancouver, British Columbia United Kingdom * Eastside, Bi ...

. The river exits the bypass then flows generally northwest to its confluence with the San Joaquin River, just north of Highway 152.

Lakes and dams

Hidden Dam is the only major storage dam on the Fresno River. The dam forms Hensley Lake, a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contr ...

. The

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

built the earth-fill dam, which was completed in 1974. Its primary purpose is

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

control, but it is also used to regulate flows for

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

and

groundwater recharge Groundwater recharge or deep drainage or deep percolation is a hydrologic process, where water moves downward from surface water to groundwater. Recharge is the primary method through which water enters an aquifer. This process usually occurs ...

. In 1978, the lake was opened to the public for

recreation Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or plea ...

and is a popular boating and fishing destination for locals. Below Hidden Dam, the Fresno River provides water to Madera Lake via an unnamed distributary. Excess flow from the lake is returned to the Fresno River by the lake's dam. Further downstream, on the northeast edge of Madera, is the John Franchi Diversion Dam, a high, -wide earth and steel dam that is used to divert water into the Big Main Canal. The dam was built by the

United States Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, and formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it applies to the oversight and opera ...

in 1964 and is operated by the Madera Irrigation District. From this point, the river is normally dry. The only time water is released past here is when water levels are high enough to spill over the dam.

Lower river

West of Road 17 in Madera County, the Fresno River's natural riverbed has been subject to much intervention by man and as a result, the natural riverbed has many gaps in it, which are now connected by man-made canals. At Road 17, the natural riverbed has been modified to divert most flows into a manmade canal, which leads to the

. Water can also be allowed to continue flowing down the main river channel (north of the man-made canal), but that water now ends up in the bypass as well. Once in the bypass, water can exit via a small channel at a diversion dam and continue west along the natural riverbed the rest of the way to the San Joaquin River. Between the Eastside Bypass and the San Joaquin River, the riverbed (which is almost always dry) has been subject to straightening, but more or less follows its natural course.

Tributaries

In addition to many small unnamed streams, the Fresno River receives the water from the following streams: *Oak Creek, considered by some to be the headwater of the Fresno River beginning at Pierce Lake *China Creek *Miami Creek *Crooks Creek *Coarsegold Creek *Spangle Gold Creek *Willow Creek *Mud Spring Creek *China Slough *South Fork Fresno River **''This is a distributary that branches off to form a small island, then returns to the mainline Fresno River.'' *Berenda Slough

Towns

Towns along the Fresno River include: * Oakhurst (unincorporated) * Madera

Crossings

There are numerous crossings over the Fresno River in Madera and Merced Counties. Crossings are listed here beginning at the source and working downstream: *Madera County above Hensley Lake **Crane Valley Road (Road 426) ** State Route 41 **River View Drive **Dupfy Fire Road (Road 8084) **Ellerbrock Station Road **Raymond Road (Road 415) *Madera County below Hensley Lake **Daulton Road (Road 603) **

California High-Speed Rail California High-Speed Rail (also known as CAHSR or CHSR) is a publicly funded high-speed rail system currently under construction in California in the United States. Planning for the project began in 1996, when the California Legislature and Gover ...

Fresno River Viaduct ''(under construction)'' *City of Madera **East Cleveland Avenue **North Lake Street **North D Street **North Gateway Drive ** State Route 99 **Schnoor Avenue **North Granada Drive *Madera County below the City of Madera **Road 23 **Road 20 **Road 19 **Road 16 **Road 9 **Road 1 *Merced County ** State Route 152

References

United States Bureau of Reclamation
{{Sierra Nevada Rivers of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Tributaries of the San Joaquin River Rivers of Madera County, California Rivers of Merced County, California Geography of the San Joaquin Valley Sierra National Forest Madera, California Rivers of Northern California Rivers of the Sierra Nevada in California