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Kansas City District News

  • October

    The Osage River can be seen with rocks in the foreground and trees and a blue sky in the background.

    Peaks and valleys: Northwestern Division leverages regional project sharing to complete the mission

    Comprised of nearly 37,000 employees, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is tasked with engineering solutions for the nation’s toughest challenges. Across the enterprise, many divisions and districts have seen a surge in workload over the last few years. While USACE has seen similar surges in the past, this increase in workload is larger than many can remember in recent history. The source of the current surge in workload is twofold. According to Col. Travis Rayfield, Kansas City District commander and district engineer, there has been an increase in funding from Congress through various infrastructure bills, which has resulted in more work across the enterprise. Additionally, The Economy Act allows federal agencies to enter into agreements to obtain supplies or services from another agency. This increase in funding for projects, coupled with an increase in resource sharing among agencies, has resulted in the surge in workload the enterprise is experiencing across the nation.

  • September

    Many kayaks can be seen on the river with the Kansas City skyline in the background.

    Paddling the distance

    Each year, hundreds of adventurous paddlers brave 340 miles of the Lower Missouri River within a matter of 3 1/2 days as part of the annual Missouri American Water MR340 race hosted by Missouri River Relief. As the world’s longest non-stop river race, MR340 is a test of endurance. It is also an opportunity for people around the nation and world to learn more about the Missouri River and how the Kansas City District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers manages the lower Missouri River Basin. Within the training all paddlers must do before the race, a warning is given to keep an eye out for the structures along the Missouri River including dikes, chutes and revetments. These structures are placed and maintained by the Kansas City District, so the Missouri River is able to self-maintain a navigation channel.
  • Four men sit at a round table with computers and notepads.

    Kansas City District, Missouri Silver Jackets host extreme-flood response tabletop exercise

    Be prepared—it’s the best way to handle an emergency when one occurs. The Kansas City District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers knows this, and that’s why they partnered with the Missouri Silver Jackets team to host a tabletop exercise simulating an extreme flood event in the Kansas City metropolitan area. This exercise, the first of its kind in a decade, included participants from multiple levee and drainage districts, fire departments, public works, emergency management specialties, local, municipal, county and federal entities who support the levees during flood emergencies.
  • A building is seen at dusk with an American flag and a grey sky in the background.

    Kansas City District continues legacy of dedicated work on the Lewis and Clark Center at Fort Leavenworth

    The Lewis and Clark Center at Fort Leavenworth is a state-of-the-art building, boasting three floors full of custom stained-glass windows and military artifacts from many different countries and centuries. The building houses the Command and General Staff College, a joint, interagency, intergovernmental and multinational college and the U.S. military’s premier school of tactics. It is also one of the Kansas City District’s many projects at Fort Leavenworth from over the years. The district has a long and proud history of partnership with Fort Leavenworth. The Lewis and Clark Center is one of the largest projects the district has done for the installation. Completed in 2007, the building has since required repairs on the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system. Now, the Kansas City District is continuing its commitment to this building and taking the lead on the repairs.
  • A man in a reflective jacket stands in front of downed tree trunks with a smoky sky in the background.

    Ready, willing and able: Kansas City District’s Debris Planning and Response Team ready to respond when disaster strikes

    September is National Preparedness month, which is intended to raise awareness about the importance of preparing for disasters and emergencies across the country. Although the month of September is dedicated to this important observance, at the Kansas City District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Debris Planning and Response Team stands ready every day in case disaster strikes. When a disaster occurs, whether natural or manmade, and the state in which it occurred is not equipped to handle the response and cleanup afterwards, the governor may declare a State of Emergency, which is needed prior to a request for federal assistance. The president then may declare a federal disaster, which allows for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to access federal funding for the cleanup. FEMA contracts with USACE Planning and Response Teams to execute the cleanup mission after a disaster.
  • Water flows out of a dam with a concrete structure and blue sky in the background.

    Sustainable rivers program (SRP)

    The Sustainable Rivers Program improves the health and life of rivers by changing dam operations to restore and protect ecosystems, while maintaining or enhancing other project benefits. The SRP was first considered in 1998 when the Nature Conservancy approached the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about improved operations of the Green River Dam in Kentucky. SRP began in fiscal year 2002 with funding of $50,000 for environmental flows on the Green River.

  • August

    Dam at Truman Lake shown with stoplog being lowered by crane on right hand end. Taken on June 21, 2023.

    Truman and Stockton Dams produce hydropower for region: Celebrate National Hydropower Day

    With the National Hydropower Association declaring August 24, 2023, as National Hydropower Day, the Kansas City District wants to celebrate our hydropower plants at Harry S. Truman Lake and Stockton Lake in central Missouri. The NHA theme for this year: hydropower is the key. What does that mean? Well, hydropower is key to cleaner communities. Hydropower production does not add to greenhouse gasses that contribute to higher temperatures on earth. Water runs through turbines in the dam and produces energy by turning the turbines with assistance from gravity.
  • A park ranger in uniform hands out materials to two children and a man.

    USACE National Water Safety Program: Promoting Safety in Style

    June, July and August are usually looked upon as some of the most fun months, but these can also be the deadliest. Most drownings at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ lake projects occur in the summer months. The need to inform the public on how to safely recreate on USACE waters led to the formation of the National Water Safety Program. After World War II, USACE became the powerhouse for not only military construction but also civil works construction, including the construction, operation and maintenance of multi-purpose reservoirs, also referred to as lakes. One of a reservoir’s authorized purposes is recreation, especially water recreation.

  • July

    A red and grey brick building is in the background with a red brick sign in the foreground. Grass is in the foreground and blue sky in the background.

    No Fail Mission: Military Corrections Complex undergoes renovations at Fort Leavenworth

    There is only one maximum security prison in the U.S. that houses male U.S. military members that have been convicted of crimes or violations under the Uniform Code of Justice. That prison is located at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and is known as the United States Disciplinary Barracks. The United States Disciplinary Barracks is part of a larger Military Corrections Complex located at Fort Leavenworth, which is comprised of the Joint Regional Correctional Facility and several support and administrative buildings. The United States Disciplinary Barracks is the facility which houses individuals sentenced to more than 10 years in prison, and the Joint Regional Correctional Facility is the facility which houses individuals sentenced to less than 10 years in prison.
  • A tan building with cars parked in front, grass on all sides, and trees in the background.

    Agricultural Research Services Works with USACE for New Research Facilities

    American farmers face many challenges in an often unpredictable economic and ecological climate. But perhaps they can rest a little easier knowing that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Agricultural Research Service, or ARS, a sub-agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, or USDA, are working together on a project to support the nation’s agricultural sector. This project will ultimately help to improve conditions for America’s farmers when 21 new ARS research facilities are constructed across the nation.