Grand Coulee filled by pumps from the Grand Coulee Dam and forms the first leg of a irrigation system. Canals, siphons, and more dams are used throughout the Columbia Basin, supplying over of farm land. Water has turned the Upper Coulee and surrounding region into a haven for wildlife, including bald eagles. Recreation is a side benefit and includes several lakes, mineral springs, hunting and fishing, and water sports of all kinds. Sun Lakes and Steamboat Rock state parks are both found in the Grand Coulee. However, the lake has also flooded a large area of natural habitat and native hunting grounds,
Grand Coulee Dam Grand Coulee Dam (not including the Third Powerplant) to be $168 million; its actual cost was $163 million in 1943 ($ in dollars). Expenses to finish the power stations and repair design flaws with the dam throughout the 1940s and '50s added another $107 million, bringing the total cost to $270 million ($ in dollars), about 33% over estimates. The Third Powerplant was estimated to cost in 1967, but higher construction costs and labor disputes drove the project's final cost in 1973 to ($ in dollars), about 55% over estimates. Despite estimates being exceeded, the dam became an economic success,