15 Things About Grand Coulee Dam

1. Grand Coulee Dam was approved in 1933 and its first generator went online eight years later in 1941.

2. When completed, Grand Coulee Dam contained 12 million cubic yards of concrete.

3. The water built up behind Grand Coulee Dam filled a reservoir (Franklin Delano Roosevelt Lake, or Lake Roosevelt) 150 miles in length.

4. The rising water behind Grand Coulee Dam was responsible for the evacuation of approximately 400 farms, 10 small communities, and members of the Colville and Spokane Indian tribes.

5. The Columbia National Wildlife Refuge (roughly 30,000 acres in size) was created because of irrigation run off from Grand Coulee Dam. Normally, this area would be too arid for these animals to live there.

6. In the early 1940’s, roughly 45% of Grant County’s available workforce was involved in construction, much of that having to do with Grand Coulee Dam.

7. Grand Coulee Dam is 4,173 feet long and 550 feet high.

8. The communities of Grand Coulee and Coulee Dam were founded by the United States Government for use as government housing during the construction of Grand Coulee Dam.

9. When Grand Coulee Dam was completed in 1941, it was the largest manmade structure ever built.

10. Grand Coulee Dam’s height (550 feet) was chosen because it was determined that any taller than that and water would back up behind it across the Canadian border.

11. Because of the rising waters behind Grand Coulee Dam, the town of Kettle Falls had to be moved. The actual waterfall area known as Kettle Falls was submerged below the new water level and is no longer visible.

12. Grand Coulee Dam is more than twice as tall as Niagara Falls.

13. Grand Coulee Dam is part of the Columbia Hydro System, a series of 14 dams on the Columbia River. This is a joint project with the Canadian Government as three of the dams are located in Canada.

14. The largest lake in the state is actually manmade Lake Roosevelt, which is the part of the Columbia River that is backed up behind Grand Coulee Dam.

15. Grand Coulee Dam has 33 generators, in comparison Hoover Dam has 17 while Bonneville Dam has 21.