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:

• Emergency Management

• Environment

• Flood and Coastal Storm Damage Reduction

• Hydroelectric Power

• Navigation

• Recreation

• Regulatory

• Water Supply

(Click on the above map to view a printable, pdf version)

Baltimore District's Civil Works Program

• Planning, Engineering, Design and Construction of Water Resources Projects

• Planning Assistance to States

• Flood Plain Management Services

• Environmental Protection and Restoration

• Annual Dredging of Baltimore Harbor and Various Navigation Projects in Chesapeake Bay

• Operation and Maintenance of Reservoirs and Local Flood Protection Projects

• Regulatory Program

• Emergency Response and Recovery

• Aquatic Plant Control Program (Potomac River Hydrilla)

• Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP)

• General Investigations

• Continuing Authorities

Related Civil Works Resources

• Water Resources Development Acts of 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1996, 1999, and 2000

• Energy and Water Development Appropriation Act of 2004

• National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969

• Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

• Public Law 92-288 (the Stafford Act)

• Federal Response Plan

• Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899