Banks Lake is doubly artificial; it lies in the Grand Coulee itself, being dammed at both ends, and is filled with water pumped up by Coulee Dam hydropower! It's the main, highest storage pond for the Columbia Basin irrigation project. Steamboat Rock is a prominent butte in the north end of the coulee that's a state park.
Banks Lake is doubly artificial; it lies in the Grand Coulee itself, being dammed at both ends, and is filled with water pumped up by Coulee Dam hydropower! It's the main, highest storage pond for the Columbia Basin irrigation project. Steamboat Rock is a prominent butte in the north end of the coulee that's a state park.
Looking south along the Grand Coulee from the top of Steamboat Rock. Steamboat Rock State Park, Washington state, USA. Banks Lake is doubly artificial: it's formed by dams at either end of the upper Grand Coulee (above Dry Falls and above Grand Coulee Dam), and is filled by water pumped up from the Columbia River by Grand Coulee Dam! "Coulee", btw, is a localism for a flat-bottomed canyon with steep sides.
Looking east from the top of Steamboat Rock toward Northrup Point. Here the Grand Coulee is cut into the granite bedrock below the Columbia River basalts, which form the dark, flat caprock. See adjacent photo for more about Banks Lake. The highway running along the shore on the far side is Washington SR 155.
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