Coulee Dam, Washington - Water Dams on Waymarking.com

Grand Coulee Dam and the Columbia Basin Project are managed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, an agency of the Department of the Interior. The Bureau was established by congress in 1902 and was tasked with boosting development in the West by developing water storage and irrigation networks west of the 100th meridian. The Bureau took a tentative interest in providing Central Washington with irrigation water pumped from the Columbia as early as 1904. For one reason or another this idea was not followed up for several years.

Preliminary feasibility studies were carried out in the 1920s. Initially the primary purpose of the dam was to provide irrigation water. Although the dam idea had a great deal of local support there were other irrigation proposals in the works. In particular, a plan to build a long canal to carry water down from the Pend Oreille river in Northern Idaho was under serious consideration.

A final report favoring the construction of the dam was produced by the Corp of Engineers in late 1931 and presented to the 73d Congress of the United States as House Document #103. This was supplemented in January of 1932 by a report from the Bureau of Reclamation outlining the details of a dam-based irrigation project.

Ironically, because of the Second World War and the importance of the Northwest's aluminum industry to that effort, the production of electricty became the overriding priority for the dam. Irrigation was deferred until later. During the war six Grand Coulee generators were brought on line as well as two generators borrowed from the yet to be completed Shasta dam.

After the war an emphasis was put back on irrigation. Construction was resumed on the pumping plant in 1946. By 1951 the plant and its six 65,000 horsepower pumps were ready for operation. The first water was delivered to the Banks Lake equalizing reservoir above the dam that same year. The first year only 66,000 acres were irrigated. Since then this figure has steadily increased as more canals, siphons, reservoirs and auxilary pumping plants have been added to the project.

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Waterway where the dam is located: Columbia River Main use of the Water Dam: Irrigation Material used in the structure: Concrete Height of Dam: 550 feet Date built: Not listed Fishing Allowed: Not Listed Motor Sports Allowed: Not Listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   03/04/2024 Don.Morfe visited it 07/26/2014 Cool Cow Cachers visited it 08/24/2013 AndrewsDK visited it 01/26/2011 wildernessmama visited it 06/23/2009 Dweather visited it 07/12/2007 Ga. Cracker visited it

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