Civil Works Program
The Corps of Engineers is the nation's premier and largest water resources
development agency.
In its civil role, the Corps of Engineers became increasingly involved
with river and harbor improvements, carrying out its first harbor and
jetty work in the first quarter of the nineteenth century. The Corps'
ongoing responsibility for federal river and harbor improvements dates
back to 1824, when Congress passed two acts authorizing the Corps to survey
roads and canals, and remove obstacles on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.
Over the years, the Corps' expertise in navigation projects led succeeding
administrations and congresses to assign new water-related missions to
the Corps in areas such as flood damage reduction, shore and hurricane
protection, hydropower, recreation, water supply and quality, and wetland
protection.
Today, the Corps of Engineers carries out missions in three broad areas:
military construction and engineering support to military installations,
reimbursable support to other federal agencies (such as the Environmental
Protection Agency's "Superfund" program to clean up hazardous
and toxic waste sites); and the Civil Works mission, centered around navigation,
flood control and -- under the Water Resources Development Acts of 1986,
1988, 1990, 1992, 1996 and 2000 -- a growing role in environmental restoration.
Business lines under the Corps' Civil Works Mission that provide solutions
to water resource problems include:
(Click on the above map to view a printable)
Baltimore District's Civil Works Program
Related Civil Works Resources
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