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 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