Foster Coulee cut off and the Columbia River then discharged through Moses Coulee. Foster Coulee has been studied as a potential pumped-storage hydroelectricity site. The coulee would be dammed and approximately 500 MW generation capacity installed, exploiting the c. difference in elevation between the new reservoir and the existing Banks Lake. Banks Lake is in turn created by pumping water uphill from the Columbia River at the Grand Coulee Dam. The Washington ground squirrel, a candidate for U.S. Endangered Species Act listing, inhabits Foster Coulee. Foster Coulee Foster Coulee is a coulee in Douglas County, Washington. Like the larger Moses Coulee nearby,
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