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When did the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project first deliver water to farms?

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Columbia River Columbia River Gorge, Oregon-Washington border.

The Columbia Basin Irrigation Project first delivered water to farms in 1952.1

This project, which utilizes water pumped from Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake behind the Grand Coulee Dam, represents the largest single irrigation initiative of its kind in the Northwest and the first large-scale use of the Columbia River for such purposes. The water was delivered to designated lands that had previously been characterized by sagebrush and desert vegetation.1