diff --git a/.claude/sweep-performance-state.csv b/.claude/sweep-performance-state.csv
index ad4938308..eb284bd92 100644
--- a/.claude/sweep-performance-state.csv
+++ b/.claude/sweep-performance-state.csv
@@ -45,6 +45,6 @@ surface_distance,2026-03-31T18:00:00Z,SAFE,memory-bound,0,1128,Memory guard adde
 terrain,2026-03-31T18:00:00Z,RISKY,compute-bound,0,,
 terrain_metrics,2026-03-31T18:00:00Z,SAFE,memory-bound,0,,
 viewshed,2026-04-05T12:00:00Z,SAFE,memory-bound,0,fixed-in-tree,Tier B memory estimate tightened from 280 to 368 bytes/pixel (accounts for lexsort double-alloc + computed raster). astype copy=False avoids needless float64 copy.
-visibility,2026-04-16T12:00:00Z,SAFE,memory-bound,0,fixed-in-tree,"Re-audit after Numba-ize (PR 1177) confirms SAFE. @ngjit kernels clean, type-stable. MEDIUM: K-observer graph growth in cumulative_viewshed (recommend periodic persist)."
+visibility,2026-06-10,RISKY,compute-bound,0,3185,"cumulative_viewshed recomputed dask source per observer (fixed #3185: materialise once when no max_distance); graph grows ~64 tasks/observer with N; line_of_sight single-transect cheap; MEDIUM count temp .astype per observer (LOW, not fixed)"
 worley,2026-03-31T18:00:00Z,SAFE,compute-bound,0,,
 zonal,2026-05-27,SAFE,compute-bound,0,2526,"Pass 2 (2026-05-27): re-audit identified 3 MEDIUM findings. (1) zonal_apply 3D dask path: da.stack(layers, axis=2) left output chunks at size 1 along axis 2 -- filed #2526 and fixed by rechunking back to values_data.chunks[2] in _apply_dask_numpy (zonal.py:1691) and _apply_dask_cupy (zonal.py:1731). Confirmed via graph probe: 256x256 raster chunks=(64,64) 3 bands previously yielded chunks[2]=(1,1,1); now (3,). 1 new test (test_apply_dask_3d_axis2_rechunked_2526). 126 existing zonal tests pass. (2) _stats_cupy (zonal.py:588-608): per-zone x per-stat Python loop with cupy.float_(result) forces O(n_zones * n_stats) GPU<->CPU sync points; not fixed in this pass (CUDA-native rewrite needed, larger refactor). (3) _parallel_variance @delayed reduce iterates over all blocks in driver memory; for very large block counts the single-task merge becomes scheduler-bound but is not OOM since per-block arrays are O(n_zones). Not fixed (algorithmic refactor needed). Dask graph probe: stats(7 stats) on 2560x2560 chunks=256 -> 4449 tasks (44/chunk); stats(mean only) -> 823 tasks (8/chunk); crosstab -> 304 (3/chunk); hypsometric_integral -> 300 (3/chunk). All under 50K cap. SAFE/compute-bound verdict holds. | Fixed-in-tree 2026-04-16: rewrote hypsometric_integral dask path. Eliminated double-compute (_unique_finite_zones removed, each block discovers own zones). Replaced np.stack (O(n_blocks * n_zones) scheduler memory) with streaming dict-merge (O(n_zones)). 29 existing tests pass."
diff --git a/xrspatial/tests/test_visibility.py b/xrspatial/tests/test_visibility.py
index 739b7d2d0..34a03d797 100644
--- a/xrspatial/tests/test_visibility.py
+++ b/xrspatial/tests/test_visibility.py
@@ -236,6 +236,45 @@ def test_dask_matches_numpy(self):
         result_dask = cumulative_viewshed(raster_dask, observers)
         np.testing.assert_array_equal(result_np.values, result_dask.values)
 
+    def test_dask_source_computed_once(self):
+        """No-max_distance dask path computes the source once, not per observer."""
+        H = W = 16
+        base = np.zeros((H, W), dtype=float)
+        counter = {'n': 0}
+
+        def _src(block_info=None):
+            counter['n'] += 1
+            return base.copy()
+
+        source = da.map_blocks(_src, chunks=((H,), (W,)), dtype=float,
+                               meta=np.array(()))
+        raster = xr.DataArray(
+            source, dims=['y', 'x'],
+            coords={'y': np.arange(H, dtype=float),
+                    'x': np.arange(W, dtype=float)},
+        )
+        observers = [{'x': float(i), 'y': float(i), 'observer_elev': 5}
+                     for i in range(4)]
+        counter['n'] = 0
+        result = cumulative_viewshed(raster, observers)
+        # source materialised exactly once despite four observers
+        assert counter['n'] == 1
+        # output stays dask-backed to match the dask input
+        assert isinstance(result.data, da.Array)
+
+    def test_dask_per_observer_max_distance_stays_lazy(self):
+        """A per-observer max_distance keeps the dask windowing path."""
+        data = np.zeros((20, 20), dtype=float)
+        raster_np = _make_raster(data)
+        raster_dask = raster_np.copy()
+        raster_dask.data = da.from_array(data, chunks=(8, 8))
+        observers = [{'x': 10.0, 'y': 10.0, 'observer_elev': 10,
+                      'max_distance': 3}]
+        result = cumulative_viewshed(raster_dask, observers)
+        assert isinstance(result.data, da.Array)
+        result_np = cumulative_viewshed(raster_np, observers)
+        np.testing.assert_array_equal(result.values, result_np.values)
+
     def test_default_output_name(self):
         data = np.zeros((5, 5), dtype=float)
         raster = _make_raster(data)
diff --git a/xrspatial/visibility.py b/xrspatial/visibility.py
index 61c36feb1..b4ad2fa71 100644
--- a/xrspatial/visibility.py
+++ b/xrspatial/visibility.py
@@ -264,9 +264,28 @@ def cumulative_viewshed(
 
     # Detect dask backend to keep accumulation lazy
     _is_dask = False
+    _input_dask_chunks = None
     if has_dask_array():
         import dask.array as da
         _is_dask = isinstance(raster.data, da.Array)
+        if _is_dask:
+            _input_dask_chunks = raster.data.chunks
+
+    # When every observer takes the full-grid path (no max_distance anywhere),
+    # each viewshed() call would compute the same dask source independently,
+    # materialising it once per observer. Compute it a single time and run the
+    # observers against the in-memory raster instead. Observers that set a
+    # max_distance keep the dask backend so its windowing still loads only the
+    # relevant window per observer. The final result is re-wrapped as dask so
+    # the output backend still matches the dask input.
+    _materialised_dask = False
+    if _is_dask and max_distance is None and not any(
+            'max_distance' in obs for obs in observers):
+        materialised = raster.copy()
+        materialised.data = raster.data.compute()
+        raster = materialised
+        _is_dask = False
+        _materialised_dask = True
 
     if _is_dask:
         count = da.zeros(raster.shape, dtype=np.int32, chunks=raster.data.chunks)
@@ -288,6 +307,13 @@ def cumulative_viewshed(
             vs_data = da.from_array(vs_data, chunks=raster.data.chunks)
         count = count + (vs_data != INVISIBLE).astype(np.int32)
 
+    if _materialised_dask:
+        # Restore the dask-backed output type the dask input would have given.
+        # The count is already a concrete numpy array, so this wrap only
+        # changes the container type; no laziness is recovered and computing
+        # the result triggers no further source materialisation.
+        count = da.from_array(count, chunks=_input_dask_chunks)
+
     result = xarray.DataArray(count, name=name, coords=raster.coords,
                               dims=raster.dims, attrs=raster.attrs)
     if _is_dask: