Grand Coulee on through and beyond Quincy Basin. The Ephrata Fan is a gravel fan formed when floodwaters from the lower Grand Coulee entered the Quincy Basin during the formation of the Scablands. The area surrounding the Grand Coulee is shrub-steppe habitat, with an average annual rainfall of less than . The Lower Grand Coulee contains Park, Blue, Alkali, Lenore, and Soap lakes. Until recently, the Upper Coulee was dry. The Columbia Basin Project changed this in 1952, using the ancient river bed as an irrigation distribution network. The Upper Grand Coulee was dammed and turned into Banks Lake. The lake is
Laser light show (Grand Coulee Dam) Laser light show (Grand Coulee Dam) "The laser light show" at Grand Coulee Dam, which began in 1989, is one of the largest light shows in the U.S.. The 37 minute show runs daily from Memorial Day through September 30. An addition of fireworks lights up the sky above the dam each Memorial Weekend Sunday and July 4. The Grand Coulee Dam premiered its first non-laser light show in 1957. Approximately 740 flood lamps near the base of the dam lit up the dam, but not enough water flooded down the spillway for the desired effect. Lasers for the show