Glen Canyon Dam was built across the Colorado River, upstream from the Grand Canyon, to create Lake Powell, to control water usage and flow on the Colorado River, and to generate electricity. Construction on the dam started in 1956. The completed dam was dedicated by Lady Bird Johnson on September 22, 1966.

Concrete for the arch of the dam and power plant was poured around the clock for more than three years. The dam's crest is 1,560 feet long. It lies 710 feet above the bedrock, and 583 feet above the original river channel. At its full-pool elevation of 3,700 feet, Lake Powell measures 560 feet deep at the dam.

Power from Glen Canyon Dam serves a five-state grid in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. The electricity produced can provide enough energy to serve the needs of approximately 1.5 million users. The dam will be usable for an estimated 300 to 500 years and has already generated more than $1.5 billion in revenues.

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