22-year-old Alexander Alcocer faces charges of gross vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence.
The California Highway Patrol says Alcocer was doing donuts on Jensen and Navelencia avenues, just east of Minkler, when he crashed into a canal just before 11:30 p.m. Thursday.
Alcocer and a male passenger made it out alive but the woman, 25-year-old Wendy Gonzalez, who was also inside the car, could not be found.
CAL FIRE's water rescue team later found Gonzalez's body downstream. She was taken to Reedley Hospital, where she later died.
Alcocer has been booked in the Fresno County Jail on $260,000 bail.