The Story of the

Columbia 

Basin Project

WASHINGTON

U.S. Department of the Interior

Bureau of Reclamation

Benefits of the Columbia Basin Project

In addition to storing and carrying water for 

irrigation, producing electricity, controlling 

floods, providing recreation, and regulating 

streamflow, the Columbia Basin Project also 

provides water for cities, industries, navigation, 

and endangered species.

What’s the Yearly Value?

Irrigated crops: $870 million

Power generated: $950 million

Recreation: 3 million visits - $50 million

The mission of the Bureau 

of Reclamation is to manage, 

develop, and protect water and 

related resources in an environmentally and 

economically sound manner in the interest of 

the American public.

www.usbr.gov/pn Ephrata Field Office (509) 754-0200

December 2008

Grand Coulee Dam

Constructed: 1933-1942 & 1967-1974

Height: 550 ft

Length: 5,223 ft

Water Storage (Franklin D Roosevelt 

Lake): 91⁄2 million acre-feet

Generating Capacity: 6,809 mW

Dry Falls Dam/ North Dam

Constructed: 1929/1951

Height: 145 ft/123 ft

Length: 1450 ft/9800 ft

Water Storage (Banks Lake): 

1,275,000 acre-feet

O’Sullivan Dam

Constructed: 1949

Height: 200 ft

Length: 1900 ft

Water Storage (Potholes Reservoir): 

 511,700 acre-feet

*

*

* Priest Rapids, Chief Joseph and 

Wanapum Dams are not Columbia 

Basin Project facilities.

North Chief Joseph Dam Dam*

What About the Fish?

Grand Coulee 

Dam releases 

water to 

increase river 

flow to help 

salmon and 

steelhead 

migrate. 

Improvements 

in water measurement, irrigation methods, and 

agricultural practices are also improving river 

conditions for fish and the overall environment 

of the region.

The Plumbing

The Columbia Basin Project includes 330 

miles of main canals, 1,990 miles of smaller 

canals, and 3,500 miles of drains and 

wasteways served by more than 240 pumping 

plants that carry water to some 10,000 farms.

Columbia National Wildlife Refuge

Some of the 

wetlands created 

by the project 

are part of 

the Columbia 

National 

Wildlife Refuge. 

Ducks, geese, 

sandhill cranes, 

and other birds gather at the refuge or pass 

through it during migration.

Fun in the Sun

Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake is the largest 

lake on the project. It stretches 151 miles 

from Grand Coulee Dam north to the 

Canadian border. Part of the lake is a National 

Recreation Area. The lake is managed by the 

National Park Service, Coville Confederated 

Tribes, Spokane Tribe of Indians, Bureau of 

Indian Affairs and Bureau of Reclamation.

 

Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake offers many 

campgrounds plus swimming beaches, boat 

ramps and docks, houseboat and fishing boat 

rentals, fuel, and food. The lake supports 

more than 30 fish species.

Producing Electricity

Grand Coulee Dam first produced electricity 

in 1941. Hydroelectricity is produced when 

the energy of falling water turns a turbine 

connected to a generator. Bonneville Power 

Administration sells this electricity to repay 

expenses of building and maintaining the 

project. Grand Coulee Dam is the largest 

hydroelectric plant in North America 

generating 2.7 times the electricity produced 

at Hoover and Glen Canyon Dams combined.

Banks Lake is the starting point for the 

project’s irrigation water delivery system. This 

reservoir is a popular attraction for fishermen, 

boaters, and other recreationists. Steamboat 

Rock State Park is one of the more popular 

facilities in Washington State. Potholes 

Reservoir is valued for its recreation as well as 

for its original irrigation purpose. 

Keeping the Lights On 

Grand Coulee Dam’s powerplants produce 

an average of 21 billion kilowatt-hours of 

electricity each year. This is about 11 percent 

of the power requirements of the Pacific 

Northwest.

Irrigating the Land

Twelve of the 

world’s largest 

pumps lift 

water from 

Franklin D. 

Roosevelt 

Lake into a 

feeder canal 

and Banks 

Lake.

The water 

then flows 

through a 

main canal 

and the Bacon 

Siphons and Tunnels to more than 670,000 

acres of project 

cropland. 

Seven small 

hydroelectric 

plants built by 

the irrigation 

districts 

help finance 

conservation 

and capital 

improvement 

projects.

Water Flows Both Ways!

Six of the twelve pumps at Grand Coulee Dam 

are also generating units that can reverse the 

direction water flows. They lift water uphill

for irrigation storage. Then when additional 

electricity is needed, they return water 

downhill to produce electricity.

, Idaho State University Dr. Ernest Keeley

Wildlife Park rek Norhwest T

Water, Water Everywhere

Natural channels and canals carry water to smaller project reservoirs–Billy Clapp Lake, Soda Lake, and 

Scooteney Reservoir. Each reservoir stores irrigation water and provides additional wildlife habitat and 

recreational opportunities such as camping, boating, swimming, fishing, nature study, and hunting. There 

are more than 300,000 acres of lakes and wetlands within the Columbia Basin Project.