Grand Coulee and highest dry falls cliff in the middle. It was created through the process of cataract recession, which included a cataract twice as high as its existing Dry Falls. Grand Coulee is two canyons, with an open basin in the middle. The Upper Coulee is filled, by Banks Lake, is long with walls tall. It links to the Columbia River at Grand Coulee Dam and leads southward, through the surrounding highlands. The entry to the coulee is above the Columbia. It began as the course of a Glacial Columbia River. The Wisconsin ice sheets Okanogan lobe extended southward across the
Grand Coulee Dam the year. For example, while the dam may generate at nameplate-capacity in the spring, decreased river flow in the fall means less power can be generated the rest of the year, resulting in a lower capacity factor. The proposal to build the dam was the focus of a bitter debate during the 1920s between two groups. One group wanted to irrigate the ancient Grand Coulee with a gravity canal while the other pursued a high dam and pumping scheme. The dam supporters won in 1933, but for fiscal reasons the initial design was for a "low dam" tall which would