TVA for Kids

The Tennessee Valley Authority, or TVA, is the largest public power company in the United States. TVA also carefully manages the nation's seventh-largest river to reduce flood damage, make rivers easier to travel, provide recreation, and keep the water clean. TVA helps make the Tennessee River Valley a good place for families to live and work. If you were carried back in time to 1933, you might not recognize most areas in the Tennessee Valley, the region that runs through seven southeastern states and surrounds the Tennessee River. At that time, the region was in pretty bad shape compared with the rest of the United States. It was dangerous to travel on major stretches of the Tennessee River. Many of the people who lived in the Valley had no electricity and were barely getting by. Farmers were suffering because the soil where they grew their crops was poor and worn out. When our 32nd president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, entered office in 1933, he wanted to help the people of the Tennessee Valley become more prosperous, healthy, and productive. In order to do this, President Roosevelt signed the Tennessee Valley Authority Act on May 18, 1933. Today, TVA has certainly lived up to President Roosevelt's hopes. TVA is the largest public power company in the United States. The agency also carefully runs the nation's seventh-largest river system in order to reduce flood damage, make rivers easier to travel, provide recreation, and protect water quality. The Tennessee Valley is now a great place for families to live and work.