User:NortyNort/TFABlurb
Grand Coulee Dam is a gravity dam on the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington built to produce hydroelectric power and provide irrigation. After a decade of bitter debate, construction on the dam began in 1933 and it was completed in 1942. Originally with two powerplants, the Third Powerplant was built by 1974 to increase its electric potential. The dam's power plants fueled the growing industries of the Northwest U.S. during World War II. Through a series of upgrades and the installation of pump-generators, the dam now supplies four power stations with an installed capacity of 6,809 MW, which makes it the largest electric power-producing facility in the United States. In conjunction with the Columbia Basin Project, the dam's reservoir also supplies water for the irrigation of 671,000 acres (2,720 km2). It is called Franklin Delano Roosevelt Lake after the United States President who presided over the authorization and completion of the dam. The dam has also prevented the migration of salmon and other fish upstream to spawn, interrupting their habitat and reproductive cycle. (more...)