Fresno Slough is a
distributary of the
Kings River that connects the North Fork Kings River to 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 ...
in
San Joaquin Valley
The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven ...
,
Kings County, California
Kings County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. The population was 152,486 at the 2020 census. The California Department of Finance estimated the county's population was 152,940 as of July 1, 2019.http://dof.ca.gov/Forecastin ...
.
Until 1879 when irrigation diversions prevented it, Fresno Slough was also an outlet of the overflow waters of
Tulare Lake
Tulare Lake () ( Spanish: ''Laguna de Tache'', Yokuts: ''Pah-áh-su'') is a freshwater dry lake with residual wetlands and marshes in the southern San Joaquin Valley, California, United States. After Lake Cahuilla disappeared in the 17th century ...
into the San Joaquin River in flood years, when its level topped the 210 foot elevation.
Modern diversions
Mendota Dam located at the confluence of the San Joaquin River and Fresno Slough delivers water to the south from
Mendota Pool during the irrigation season, and delivers water to Mendota Pool and the San Joaquin River from the Kings River when the Kings River is flooding. Mendota Dam and Mendota Pool have been used for irrigation diversions since the late 1800s.
[Mendota Dam, the Delta-Mendota Canal, and Mendota Pool from www.revivethesanjoaquin.org accessed November 7, 2011.]
References
External links
*
Rivers of Kings County, California
Tributaries of the San Joaquin River
Geography of the San Joaquin Valley
History of Kings County, California
Rivers of Northern California
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