CALIFORNIA AQUEDUCT

principal water-conveyance structure of the California State Water Project, U.S., running from the Sacramento River Delta east of San Francisco, south through the San Joaquin Valley, and over the summit of the Tehachapi Mountains, a distance of 273 mi (440 km). At this point it divides into east and west branches, the former terminating some 444 mi from the delta. Sizes of channels vary along the aqueduct, a typical section being a concrete-lined canal 40 ft (12 m) wide at the base, with 30 ft average depth of flow. The California State Water Project, begun in 1960, is designed to yield 4,230,000 ac-ft (5,217,705,000 cu m) of water annually to southern California from sources in the northern portion of the state.