GREAT LAKES AND OHIO RIVER DIVISION

• The Great Lakes and Ohio River Division (LRD) is one of nine U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) regional commands, with seven operating districts: Chicago, Detroit, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Huntington, Louisville, and Nashville. LRD is a unique division with two distinct watersheds.

• The region covers 335,000 miles in 17 states: Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, serving more than 17 million people.

• 104 congressional districts, 34 U.S. senators, and 17 state delegations represented.

• The division employs 4,200 civilian and military engineers, scientists, project managers, and technical experts.

• Manages more than $2 billion in military and civil works design and construction programs.

• USACE issues permits for all construction activities affecting U.S. waters.

• Over the past five years, the division averaged 10,400 general permits, 555 individual permits, and 7,300 jurisdictional determinations annually.

• The division is also home to three USACE virtual centers of expertise: the Dam Safety Modification Mandatory Center of Expertise; the Planning Center of Expertise for Inland Navigation-Risk Informed Economics Division; and the Inland Navigation Design Center.

NATIONAL SECURITY: DELIVERING INNOVATIVE, RESILIENT, SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (DOD) AND THE NATION

• The division’s military programs cover five states within its boundaries.

• Supports 15 installations: nine Army, four Air Force, one Navy, and one DOD, with an annual budget of more than $150 million for these efforts.

• Executes more than $500 million per year in work for DOD as the engineering design and construction agent in major construction. The Army and Air Force Reserve are the division’s largest military customers, as it supports its design and construction efforts nationwide. The Reserve components account for two-thirds of the major construction program.

• Cleans up hazardous, toxic, and radioactive waste and military munitions at Formerly Used Defense Sites and closed military bases, with an annual budget of $70 million for these efforts.

REDUCING DISASTER RISK: HELPING THE NATION RESPOND TO, RECOVER FROM, AND MITIGATE DISASTER EFFECTS

Reducing disaster risk is something USACE does every day, from routine maintenance on dams to levee safety inspections, to designing and building flood risk reduction systems, to modeling and simulations.

• Readiness and Contingency Operations (RCO) is the national lead for the Temporary Emergency Power mission. In support of FEMA, the division deploys multi-skilled teams nationwide to install, operate, and de-install FEMA-owned generators at key critical facilities until commercial power is restored.

• LRD is the designated USACE lead division for response, recovery, and mitigation planning efforts in support of Emergency Support Function 3 (ESF #3) activities conducted under the National Response Framework – primarily in coordination with FEMA Region V as well as with the states of Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Kentucky.

• The division and its districts deploy engineering experts and provide flood-fight supplies to state and local communities in times of high water at the request of governors. During late December 2015 and early January 2016 major flood events, the division deployed six engineers to the lower Ohio and Wabash River basins and provided more than 70,000 sandbags to assist local flood-fight efforts.

INTERAGENCY AND INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT

• LRD provides technical assistance on a reimbursable basis to federal agencies, state and local governments, private U.S. firms, international organizations, and foreign governments at the request of the State Department or DOD.

• Customers include the departments of Veterans Affairs and Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, the National Park Service, and the U.S. Forest Service.

CIVIL WORKS: DELIVERING ENDURING AND ESSENTIAL WATER RESOURCE SOLUTIONS

• Navigation: The Great Lakes Navigation System is a continuous 27-foot deep-draft waterway extending from the western end of Lake Superior at Duluth, Minnesota, to the gulf of the St. Lawrence River on the Atlantic Ocean, a distance of more than 2,400 miles. This binational resource is composed of the five Great Lakes, the connecting channels of the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence River, and the gulf of the St. Lawrence. The U.S. portion of the system includes 140 harbors (60 commercial, 80 recreational), two operational locks, 104 miles of breakwaters and jetties, and more than 600 miles of maintained navigation channels. In addition, the Great Lakes Navigation System connects to several other shallow-draft waterways (Illinois Waterway, New York State Barge Canal, etc.) to form an important waterborne transportation network, reaching deep into the continent. The Great Lakes handle 175 million tons of commodities on average each year. Major commodities included iron ore (42 percent), coal (19 percent), and limestone (19 percent).

• The Ohio River System (main stem and tributaries) provides 2,600 miles of navigable waters and enables 245 million tons to ship annually, equating to nearly 30 percent of the country’s domestic waterborne commerce, with the main commodity being coal.

• Flood risk management protects people and the economy. The division manages: 84 dams and reservoirs for flood risk reduction, water supply, environmental stewardship, and recreation in cooperation with local water supply managers and stakeholders; 539 miles of levees and more than 100 local flood protection projects that include walls, levees, and channel improvements; helps fight during flood conditions and repair certified levees that are damaged by storms; and manages 1.5 million acres of land and water, including 756 recreation areas at 100 lake and river sites. These areas receive more than 80 million visitors annually and generate 27,000 jobs within local communities. Recreation sites include parks, campgrounds, marinas, swim areas, hiking trails, and a host of other recreational activities and areas for outdoor enthusiasts.