History of the National Park Service and multi purpose river basin development programs like the Tennessee Valley Authority which began in the 1930s and spread to river valleys in all parts of the country after World War II. Lake Mead was the first National Recreation Area. The Boulder Canyon Project Act, passed in 1928, authorized the Bureau of Reclamation to construct Hoover Dam on the Colorado River. Work began in 1931 and the dam, highest in the Western Hemisphere, was completed in 1935. The next year, under provisions of an agreement with the Bureau of Reclamation, the National Park Service assumed responsibility for all recreational activities
Glen Canyon Dam about 5 million people in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, and is sold to utilities in these states as 20-year contracts. Power sales have been managed by the Western Area Power Administration since 1977. Glen Canyon Dam generates enough power to offset 6.7 billion pounds (3 billion kg) of carbon dioxide emissions each year. However, drought conditions in the 21st century have reduced the amount of hydropower available from Glen Canyon Dam. An unusual feature of the Glen Canyon power plant is the Kentucky bluegrass lawn occupying the crescent between the dam and hydroelectric plant. At the