Grand Coulee Dam of Reclamation was founded, it investigated a scheme for pumping water from the Columbia River to irrigate parts of central Washington. An attempt to raise funds for irrigation failed in 1914, as Washington voters rejected a bond measure. In 1917, William M. Clapp, a lawyer from Ephrata, Washington, proposed the Columbia be dammed immediately below the Grand Coulee. He suggested a concrete dam could flood the plateau, just as nature blocked it with ice centuries ago. Clapp was joined by James O'Sullivan, another lawyer, and by Rufus Woods, publisher of "The Wenatchee World" newspaper in the nearby agricultural centre of
Coulee City, Washington Coulee City, Washington Coulee City is a town in Grant County, Washington. The population was 562 at the 2010 census. The town was named after nearby Grand Coulee. Coulee City was officially incorporated on May 10, 1907. Coulee City is located at (47.611942, -119.290904). According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all of it land. As of the census of 2010, there were 562 people, 265 households, and 150 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 331 housing units at an average density of . The racial