title: North Dam
text: # North Dam
  
  North Dam is an earth-fill embankment dam near the town of Grand Coulee in Grant County, Washington, United States. Construction of the dam began in 1946 and it was completed in 1951. Along with Dry Falls Dam about 22 mi (35 km) to the southeast, North Dam creates the reservoir Banks Lake within the ancient Grand Coulee riverbed. The lake serves as the equalizer reservoir of the Columbia Basin Project. Near the North Dam's left abutment is the entrance to the feeder canal of the project. The canal serves to either deliver water to the pump-generating plant at Grand Coulee Dam or return water to Banks Lake from the same pumped-storage plant.
  
  The North Dam, near the town of Grand Coulee, has a maximum height of 145 feet (44 m) and a crest length of 1,400 feet (430 m). Crest elevation of both dams is 1,580 feet (480 m), and the maximum water level in Banks Lake is elevation 1,570 feet (480 m). Both North and Dry Falls dams have 10 feet (3.0 m) of freeboard for protection against wave action due to high winds.
  
  