 As investigation and planning work continued , the Corps of Engineers reached an agreement with the Department of the Interior , the parent agency of the Bureau of Reclamation , in March 1962 . The agreement stated the Corps would have responsibility for design and construction of the project , while the Interior Department would be responsible for running and maintaining the dam after completion . In the planning stages , the Interior Department also would be responsible for examining the economic feasibility of the project and its effect upon natural resources . This agreement negated much of the work of the REAB to that point , as the Interior Department promptly began its own three @-@ year study of the dam 's economic feasibility and environmental impact . The DRC report , though trumped by the Interior Department 's new precedence in such matters , nevertheless released a report in April 1962 , stating that the project was economically feasible and would attract new industries to Alaska . Meanwhile , the Corps of Engineers continued engineering studies . 
