Grand Coulee Dam via the Pump-Generating Plant's diameter pipes from Lake Roosevelt to a feeder canal. From the feeder canal, the water is transferred to Banks Lake which has an active storage of . The plant's twelve 65,000–70,000 horsepower pumps can transfer up to to the lake. Currently, the Columbia Basin Project irrigates with a potential for . Over 60 different crops are grown within the project and distributed throughout the United States. Grand Coulee Dam supports four different power houses containing 33 hydroelectric generators. The original Left and Right Powerhouses contain 18 main generators and the Left has an additional three service
Grand Coulee Dam to oversee the dam project, and Reclamation was selected to oversee construction. On July 16, 1933, a crowd of 3,000 watched the driving of the first stake at the low dam site, and excavation soon began. Core drilling commenced that September while the Bureau of Reclamation accelerated its studies and designs for the dam. It would still help control floods and provide for irrigation and hydroelectricity, though at a reduced capacity. Most importantly, it would not raise its reservoir high enough to irrigate the plateau around the Grand Coulee. However, the dam's design provided for future raising and upgrading. Before