After several Savannah River floods in the 1800s, including the devastating flood of 1888 that inundated the 900 block of Broad Street, damaged much of downtown Augusta, and dramatically affected its citizens, officials decided to build the Clarks Hill Dam and Lake, later renamed the J. Strom Thurmond Dam and Lake in 1987. Authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1944 and built between 1946 and 1954, this multipurpose project controls flooding, improves navigation on the Savannah River, generates hydropower, provides recreation, and supports fish and wildlife management. Downtown Augusta, including its riverside commercial and recreational development such as the Riverwalk, has benefited from its flood control. Thurmond Dam is one of 75 hydroelectric dams owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which produces about a quarter of the nation's hydroelectric power. Thurmond Lake also offers a variety of outdoor recreation activities in Georgia and South Carolina, and since the dam was completed, the lake and its surroundings have attracted a diversity of animal life.