The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Civil Works mission is varied and wide-ranging. Its multi-purpose projects provide benefits for navigation, flood risk management, hydropower production, fish and wildlife, environmental stewardship, recreation, irrigation and municipal water supply.

Navigation
The Corps’ navigation responsibilities are planning and constructing navigation channels, locks and dams, and dredging to maintain channel depths in U.S. harbors and inland waterways. We operate and maintain 25,000 miles of navigable channels and 196 commercial lock and dam sites and are responsible for harbors and waterways in 41 states. In partnership with local port authorities, Corps personnel oversee dredging and construction projects at hundreds of ports and harbors.

Flood Risk Management
Reducing risk and preventing flood-related damages can be accomplished by several means — through structural measures, such as reservoirs, levees, channels, and floodwalls that modify the characteristics of floods; or with non-structural measures, such as flood plain evacuation, floodproofing, and floodway acquisitions that alter the way people use these areas and reduce the susceptibility of human activities to flood risk.

Civil Works
Because of hydropower’s significant advantages over other energy sources —clean, efficient, reliable, and renewable — it plays an increasingly important role in meeting the Nation's energy needs.

Environmental Enhancement/Fish and Wildlife
Since the 1970s, the Corps’ environmental efforts have grown and evolved from simply protecting fish, wildlife and plant species to a focus on recovering their numbers to become sustainable. The Corps partners with state and federal agencies to expand the scientific knowledge base of the natural environment and evaluate how activities within a watershed may affect protected species. Structural modifications to dams and powerhouses along with changes to river system operations are used to ensure the right things are done for the environment.

Recreation
The Corps is one of the federal government’s largest providers of outdoor recreational opportunities. It operates more than 4,300 recreational sites at its lakes and projects in 43 states, logging more than 370 million visits per year. State and local park authorities and private interests operate nearly another 2,000 recreation areas on Corps lands. Hundreds of educational and volunteer programs help visitors appreciate the need for conscientious environmental stewardship of the 12 million acres under our control.

Regulatory Program
The mission of the Corps’ regulatory program is to protect the Nation's waters for current and future generations, while allowing for reasonable economic development. Regulatory efforts protect a wide variety of aquatic resources, including wetlands, rivers, streams, tidal waters, coral reefs, shellfish beds, and the oceans. Our permit process is designed to minimize environmental impacts of construction and dredging activities in U.S. waters and to ensure that such efforts are thoughtful and coordinated.