Grand Coulee Dam, Bureau of Reclamation, Pacific Northwest Region

Grand Coulee Dam Laser Light Show \| Employment \| Photo Gallery \| History \| Dataweb Statistics

Overview	Construction of Grand Coulee Dam began in 1933 and was completed in 1942. Grand Coulee Dam is the largest hydropower producer in the United States with a total generating capacity of 6,809 megawatts. It is also part of the Columbia Basin Project, irrigating more than 600,000 acres, and is the cornerstone for water control on the Columbia River in the United States.

Visitor Information	Grand Coulee Dam Fact Sheet	PDF	751 kb
	Columbia Basin Project Brochure	PDF	700 kb
	John W. Keys III Pump-Generating Plant	PDF	1.32 mb
	Visitor Center Hours of Operation	PDF	943 kb
	Walking Tour on Forebay Dam — Please note that packages, boxes, backpacks, purses, and bags may not be taken on the tour due to current security measures. Cameras are allowed.
	Third Powerplant Overhaul Project

Time Lapse Video: Third Powerplant Rotor Pull
	Grand Coulee Dam's Third Powerplant saw a monumental lift on October 26, 2009 when one of the 600-megawatt generators was taken out of service for repairs. The nearly 2,000 ton rotor was removed from the generator and transported to the far end of the powerplant, where it will be stored while the repairs are completed.

Water Data	Lake Elevation and Discharge from Grand Coulee Dam
	Grand Coulee Data from the US Army Corps of Engineers
	Call (800) 824-4916 for recorded information about the lake elevation.

Background	Grand Coulee Dam was the key to the development of power on the Columbia River — the greatest potential source of hydroelectric energy among the rivers in America. Original plans considered ten dams on the Columbia River between the Canadian border and the mouth of the river. Grand Coulee Dam forms Lake Roosevelt, extending upstream 151 miles to the Canadian Border. It has a 600-mile shoreline and a surface area of 82,000 acres. In 1948 Congress designated Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, which is operated by the National Park Service. Grand Coulee provides water for approximately 600,000 acres in the Columbia Basin Project. In addition to its irrigation and power functions, Grand Coulee Dam is a primary factor in controlling the floods on the Columbia River.

Geology	In its generally southwesterly course from Canada to the Pacific Ocean, the Columbia River in central Washington forms a half loop known as the Big Bend, between the mouths of the Spokane and Snake Rivers. During one of the ice ages, a glacier extended across the present river channel, diverting the flow across the open eastern side of the Big Bend loop. By the time the ice age had passed, this diverted water had eroded what is now known as the Grand Coulee, so that when the river returned to its present channel the Coulee was left as a potential high-elevation irrigation storage reservoir, waiting only to be sealed at each end and filled with water. The Grand Coulee Dam and powerplant are located in the present Columbia River Channel adjacent to the upper end of the Grand Coulee, about 90 miles northwest of Spokane, Washington.

	Last Update: November 13, 2009 3:36 PM