Panoramic Perspective of the Spokane Region including the Geological and Scenic Wonderland Embracing the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project and Grand Coulee Dam

Aerial view of a major public infrastructure project in the Pacific Northwest.

[From the United States Bureau of Land Reclamation] “The Columbia Basin Project serves about 671,000 acres in east central Washington. The main facilities of the project include Grand Coulee Dam, Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake, three power plants, four switchyards, and a pump-generating plant. Primary irrigation facilities include the Feeder Canal, Banks Lake, the Main, West, East High, and East Low canals, O’Sullivan Dam, Potholes Reservoir, and Potholes Canal. There are over 300 miles of main canals, about 2,000 miles of laterals, and 3,500 miles of drains and wasteways on the project.

While Congress authorized the Columbia Basin Project in 1943, construction of the irrigation system did not start until after World War II. The first irrigation water pumped from the Columbia River near Pasco in 1948 and was delivered to about 5,400 acres. The irrigation system carried its first water from Grand Coulee Dam to about 66,000 acres in the spring of 1952.”

This bird’s eye view of the vast project was published shortly after the first spurts of water burst forth from the pipes. It was issued by the Spokane Chamber of Commerce to lure new businesses and agriculture into the region and shows a robust transportation network, numerous rivers, and a vast tract labeled the Columbia Basin Irrigation Area. Tables of facts, descriptive text, photographs, and a road map of the broader region can be seen on the verso.

Source.