Every Lake
Potholes Reservoir
O'Sullivan Dam closed on Crab Creek in 1949, backing water into shrub-steppe desert.
- 11 ft · first step
- 22 ft
- 34 ft
- 45 ft
- 56 ft
- 67 ft · bottom
About Potholes Reservoir
Potholes Reservoir formed behind O'Sullivan Dam, an earthen structure built on Crab Creek in 1949 as part of the Columbia Basin Project, the irrigation system built to distribute water stored at Grand Coulee Dam across central Washington. The dam backed water into a low basin of sand dunes and shrub-steppe in Grant County, creating a reservoir with an irregular, island-studded shoreline stretched across roughly 65 miles. Water levels rise and fall through the growing season as the reservoir stores irrigation runoff and releases it downstream, a pattern tied directly to farm irrigation demand rather than natural rainfall.
The reservoir sits next to Potholes State Park and the sand-dune country of the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge, drawing anglers after smallmouth bass and walleye and boaters who camp on its islands. Othello and Moses Lake are the nearest towns, and drivers headed for the public boat launches detour off Interstate 90 to reach the reservoir's north shore. Steady afternoon winds off the open desert basin also draw windsurfers and kiteboarders in summer, a use the original irrigation planners never anticipated when they closed the dam.
- 227 roads engraved around the shore, 13 of them labeled
- 6 depth layers, each step engraved with its depth in feet
- Compass rose, title block with coordinates, max depth and area; keyhole hanger on the back
Turn it in your hands
Live 3D of the actual cut files — drag to orbit, pinch to zoom. Every road you see is engraved on the real thing.
Viewer not showing? Open it full screen.
Potholes Reservoir depth chart, in wood
This is a Potholes Reservoir depth chart you can hang: 6 stacked layers of birch, each one a depth contour — 11 ft, 22 ft, 34 ft, 45 ft, 56 ft and deeper, down to the deepest hole at about 67 ft. The lake covers about 24.6 square miles, and 227 shore roads are engraved around it. The shape of the bottom is the real one from published soundings, so anglers recognise their drop-offs and points.
A Potholes Reservoir map for the wall — or a gift
Most of these go to a cabin wall, a lake house entry, or a home office; a lot are gifts — the family that has been on Potholes Reservoir for three generations, the retirement move, the first boat. The 12-inch is the desk-and-shelf size; the 24- and 30-inch boards read across a room. Add a line under the title and star your place on the shore, and it becomes the map of your Potholes Reservoir.
Potholes Reservoir map — the details
How big is the map?
Four sizes: 12, 17, 24 and 30 inches on the long side, from $149. Every size is cut from the same depth data of Potholes Reservoir; the bigger boards carry more shoreline roads and place names.
Is it made from real depth data?
Yes. Potholes Reservoir is cut layer by layer from published bathymetric soundings — each layer of birch is a depth contour, so the shape of the bottom is the real one, not decorative.
Can I add my own place on it?
Yes. At checkout you can add a line under the title (a family name, a cabin name, a year) and star the spot on the shore that matters to you.
How long does it take?
Made to order in Waterford, Pennsylvania and shipped in 7–10 days; shipping is free in the lower 48.
Can you make a lake that isn't listed?
Any lake in the United States — we hold depth data for 104,419 of them. Search for yours; if it isn't built yet we build it when you order.
- 6 depth layers down to 67 ft
- 24.6 square miles of water
- 227 shore roads engraved, 13 named
- Title block, compass rose and depth markers
- Birch plywood, keyhole hanger, made in Waterford, PA
