About St. Louis District
Established in 1837, the St. Louis District, encompasses 28,000 square miles of land. We are an engineering and water resource agency dedicated to maintaining a proper and healthy balance of the varying uses of the heartland's waterways.
The St. Louis District also operates and maintains five lakes and their associated recreational areas. These lakes, which serve a variety of purposes ranging from flood protection and recreation to potable water supply and hydroelectricity, average over 15 million visitors a year.
In America's steamboat era, the main danger to waterborne travel and commerce was neither fire nor explosions, but rather snags—trees that had fallen into the rivers as a result of bank erosion. The current carried them to the center of the stream, and the heavier end, that with the roots, became lodged in the riverbed with the other end pointed downstream at an angle. A snag could punch a hole in a boat's hull, often causing it to sink. Particularly dangerous were the fallen trees that lay hidden beneath the river's surface. Snags caused enormous losses of vessels, cargoes, and lives.
During an age when America moved mostly by water, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began removing snags and other obstructions on navigable rivers in 1824. Read more...
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