AUTHORS: Brian Johnson, US Army Corps of Engineers - St. Louis
ABSTRACT: The US Army Corps of Engineers is one largest water resource management agencies in the United States, managing over 460 reservoirs and providing over 50% of the nation’s entire flood storage capacity. In addition, the Corps manages 237 navigable locks throughout the country. All told the Corps operates and maintains approximately 740 dams and associated structures which directly impact over 52,000 miles of rivers. In recognition of the magnitude and breath of the impact of USACE water infrastructure across the country, the Corps began partnering with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in 2002 on the Sustainable Rivers Program (SRP). The SRP Program has the clear mission of working at Corps operating projects to improve the health and life of rivers by changing infrastructure operations to restore and protect ecosystems, while maintaining or enhancing other project benefits. To date the program has worked on over 40 rivers impacting over 12,000 miles. Within the Midwest there are active SRP projects in at least 8 states, including Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. The Corps has continued to partner with TNC to deliver the SRP Program, most recently with the release of TNC’s Resilient & Connected Network analysis of the USACE sites, which helps identify those sites with the highest resilience and biodiversity. The results of that work show there is still abundant need and potential for new projects and opportunities within the Midwest region. This presentation will discuss that potential, delve into the SRP process, and discuss how to work with USACE to submit and propose new projects.
