The Huntington District is one of 43 Corps Districts worldwide. It is responsible for 311 miles of the Ohio River, along with the tributary rivers and drainage basins that flow into the Ohio River. In all, the District employs nearly 800 people and encompasses 45,000 square miles in parts of five states, including West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia and North Carolina.
The Huntington District has built and now maintains 35 flood risk reduction projects, more than any other district in the Corps. Our dams, flood-walls, levees and stream improvement projects have prevented $11.9 billion in flood damages.
The economic benefits associated with the Huntington District are significant, broad-based, and touch every resident of the region. The latest annual data shows that more than 95 million tons of cargo worth in excess of $17.5 billion passed through our nine locks and dams, saving over $1.3 billion in transportation costs.
As the region's leading provider of recreational opportunities, more than 27 million people visited our recreation areas and the District conducted more than 450 water safety events last year.
The District's Regulatory Division works to protect the Nation's aquatic resources, while allowing reasonable development through fair, flexible and balanced permit decisions. They issue more than 800 permits and execute more than 1500 other types of regulatory actions annually.
The Huntington District is also the home of two national centers; the Dam Safety Modification Mandatory Center of Expertise and the Planning Center of Expertise for Inland Navigation.
Our District has consistently supported overseas contingency operations, deploying more than 130 employees since 2003.
Our Emergency Operations Branch has responded to natural disasters and was recently making Huntington the first district to become fully accredited in the Emergency Management Accreditation Program.