 In 1922 , the Reclamation Service presented a report calling for the development of a dam on the Colorado River for flood control and electric power generation . The report was principally authored by Davis , and was called the Fall @-@ Davis report after Interior Secretary Albert Fall . The Fall @-@ Davis report cited use of the Colorado River as a federal concern , because the river 's basin covered several states , and the river eventually entered Mexico . Though the Fall @-@ Davis report called for a dam " at or near Boulder Canyon " , the Reclamation Service ( which was renamed the Bureau of Reclamation the following year ) found that canyon unsuitable . One potential site at Boulder Canyon was <unk> by a geologic fault ; two others were so narrow there was no space for a construction camp at the bottom of the canyon or for a spillway . The Service investigated Black Canyon and found it ideal ; a railway could be laid from the railhead in Las Vegas to the top of the dam site . Despite the site change , the dam project was referred to as the " Boulder Canyon Project " . 
