29 Sep 2023

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.

29 Sep 2023

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.

27 Sep 2023

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.

12 Sep 2023

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.

1 Sep 2023

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.