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  • April

    Ice Harbor Lock and Dam, near Burbank, Washington

    Evaluating impacts and benefits of alternatives

    The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires federal agencies to develop a reasonable range
  • Columbia River System Operations logo. In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, and Bonneville Power Administration, referred to as the Action Agencies, intend to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) on the Columbia River System operations and configurations for 14 federal projects in the interior Columbia Basin.

    Update on Alternatives Development

    As introduced in the Summer 2018 newsletter, the CRSO EIS team of co-lead agencies are working to
  • CRSO EIS Process Timeline

    EIS Schedule Update

    In October 2018, the Secretaries of Interior, Commerce and Energy, and the Assistant Secretary of

  • March

    sandbag filling machine

    Corps using alternative, expedited permitting procedures to authorize flood-related repairs

    Due to the current flooding, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District Regulatory Branch will be using alternative and expedited permitting procedures to authorize flood-related repairs within regulated waters of the U.S. These procedures will allow the Corps to expedite permitting requests for Nationwide Permits, Regional General Permits, and Standard Permits for flood recovery activities.
  • Cottage Grove Dam and Reservoir sits on the Coast Fork of the Willamette River, south of Eugene, Oregon. Cottage Grove is one 13 dams and reservoirs in the Willamette Valley System and the Corps’ continued operations and maintenance of the facility will be evaluated in the system-wide Environmental Impact Statement slated to kick-off this spring.

    Corps begins Willamette Valley System evaluation

    Almost three million people, or about 70 percent of Oregon’s population live in a fertile valley on the state’s western side, according to Portland State University figures. This number has doubled since 1970 – and people are still squeezing themselves into the roughly 150 mile-long valley, which is bracketed by mountain ranges and dominated by a powerful and deceptive force – the Willamette River. This influential river has had a long history of devastating flooding, which spurred the people of Oregon and the U.S. Congress into action in the 1930’s. Congress granted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers the authority to build a system of dams on the Willamette River’s tributaries for flood control purposes.

  • February

    USACE Omaha District Visual Information Special Jeremy Bell stands in front of five of his original works at the Michael Birawer Gallery in Seattle Feb. 2018. (Courtesy photo)

    When doing what you love is part of your job: The life of a visual information specialist

    What types of career options come to your mind when you think of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers? Engineering, of course, or construction perhaps. Even project management and economics careers would be obvious. The reality is that USACE offers scores of careers in vastly different focus areas ranging from finance and accounting, to safety and occupational health, and even to graphic design or “visual information” as it’s referred to in the military. The latter career (and the focus of this piece) is a common position in military outfits; visual information specialists are typically the military personnel armed with a camera or video camera—in addition to their normal battlefield weapons.
  • Early morning at John Day Lock & Dam

    John Day 50th Anniversary

    Sept. 20, 2018, the Portland District commemorated the 50th anniversary of the ceremonial spillway opening at John Day Lock and Dam, which took place Sept. 28, 1968.

  • January

    McConnell’s first KC-46A Pegasus lands on the flightline Jan. 25, 2019, at McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas. The KC-46 will serve alongside the KC-135 Stratotanker at McConnell and supply critical aerial refueling, airlift and aeromedical evacuations at a moment’s notice for America’s military and allies. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Alan Ricker)

    McConnell AFB welcomes first KC-46A Pegasus

    Team McConnell’s Total Force crews delivered the first two KC-46A Pegasus aircraft to the Home of Air Refueling – in the Air Capital of the World. Contractors [under the oversight of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Kansas City District] constructed three new KC-46 maintenance hangars, technical training dormitories, an air traffic control tower, fuselage trainer and many other facilities specifically for the Pegasus’ arrival. These projects brought $267 million to the local economy by employing Kansas workers and using local resources.
  • A Dam Safety Program inspector dangles from the face of a Willamette Valley dam as he assesses the condition of spillway gates, June 6, 2009. The dam safety assessment concluded gates could fail to open or could stick, which could affect how the dams released water. In 2010, the District began rehabilitating the gates.

    Dam: that’s a lot of work - Corps completes spillway gate repair

    In 2009, dam safety inspectors dangled from ropes to inspect the spillway gates at federal dams throughout Oregon. The team, in their top-to-bottom inspection, determined that the aging spillway gates might malfunction when the water levels were high.
  • Brigadier General D. Peter Helmlinger assumed duties as the Commander of the Northwestern Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, on July 27, 2018.

    The "system" performed as designed

    The writer, Brigadier General D. Peter Helmlinger, is commander of the Northwestern Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.