săn wäkēnˈ, river, c.320 mi (510 km) long, rising in the Sierra Nevada, E Calif., and flowing W then N through the S Central Valley to form a large delta with the Sacramento River near Suisun Bay, an arm of San Francisco Bay. The San Joaquin is navigable c.40 mi (60 km) for oceangoing vessels to Stockton. The Mokelumne, Tuolumne, Merced, and Fresno are its chief tributaries. The wide southern part of the basin between the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Range is usually called the San Joaquin Valley, although it includes independent rivers such as the Kings and the Kern. Between Stockton in the north and Bakersfield in the south are many cities, notably Fresno, Modesto, and Merced. The Central Valley project, undertaken largely to bring surplus water from the north to make the San Joaquin Valley more fertile, has as one of its units Friant Dam on the San Joaquin; the San Luis Dam is on the San Luis River.

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