News Story Archive

News Story Manager

  • January

    Navigation conference looks for solutions

    Budget constraints, climate change and environmental responsibilities will continue to impact the Corps’ ability to meet the maritime industry’s constantly changing needs and capabilities, Maj. Gen. John Peabody told attendees at the winter meeting of the California Marine Affairs and Navigation Conference held here Jan. 16.
  • District bids farewell to Programs and Project Management deputy

    LOS ANGELES — In preparation for his retirement Jan. 10, the District’s Deputy for Programs and Project Management Ken Morris, who began his federal career in 1974 when commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps, answered some questions about the 26 years he has spent as a federal civilian employee in the Los Angeles District.
  • December

    LA District helps lead USACE small business goals

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District received two awards in December for its efforts at ensuring USACE exceeded its small business goal for the fourth year in a row.
  • District family member receives award for public service

    Theresa Koontz, wife of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District Security Manager Jeff Koontz, received the Commander’s Award for Public Service at the Arizona-Nevada Area Office during the Dec. 18 Holiday Luncheon.
  • Corps' engineer invited to critique Harvard students’ design projects

    Steve Dwyer, chief, Navigation and Coastal Projects Branch, was asked to participate as an engineering advisor for a graduate-level Landscape Architecture Studio at Harvard University. Per Harvard's invitation, he visited the school Dec. 13 to sit on a panel organized to review and judge the students' design projects, which all related to the Los Angeles River. Dwyer, who was the District's chief of operations for 25 years had the responsibility of maintenance for the Los Angeles River and wrote the Los Angeles County Drainage Area Project's operation and maintenance manual.
  • District leadership chart future during planning seminar

    Los Angeles District leaders gathered for a seminar at the Bob Hope Patriotic Hall in downtown Los Angeles Dec. 10-12 to determine future goals and the work necessary to achieve them.
  • District’s Wounded Warrior program a ‘win-win’

    The Los Angeles District is supporting the U.S. Army’s Wounded Warrior Transition Program and it’s paying off in big ways—both for the District and the warriors themselves.
  • Sand, solitude and sunshine equate to satisfaction for dam tenders at Painted Rock Dam

    In the late 1950s, The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed Painted Rock Dam on the Gila River, upstream of Yuma, Ariz., to help minimize flooding and protect water rights according to a treaty with Mexico. However, most of the year, the dam’s basin is completely dry. The hearty souls who keep the place operting stay in "stand by" mode in case there is heavy rain.
  • In WWII LA, no task was too tough for District

    Many people understand the engineer’s role in society. Among the definitions of engineer, the Oxford Dictionary lists one as “(verb) to skillfully or artfully arrange for an event or situation to occur.” This is certainly the definition most befitting of the myriad of challenging missions the Los Angeles District undertook in the days after Japanese forces bombed the Pearl Harbor Naval Air Base on Dec. 7, 1941.
  • November

    District counsels recognized for outstanding performance

    LOS ANGELES – The Chief Counsel of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recognized Elizabeth Moriarty
  • EPA chief visits LA River

    Newly appointed EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy visited Los Angeles Nov. 21 to see first hand plans for the LA River's restoration. The EPA chief said she was pleased to view the work that's been done to connect the community to the natural world.
  • District inducts two into its ‘Distinguished Civilian Employee’ cadre

    More than 40 retired District employees responded to an invitation from Los Angeles District Commander Col. Kimberly Colloton to attend a “State of the District” presentation and lunch at the District headquarters Nov. 12. It also presented an opportunity to unveil the names of two retirees who were chosen to be honored as Distinguished Civilian Employees.
  • Local students wish deployed USACE employees ‘Happy Thanksgiving’ with handmade cards

    More than 1,400 cards were delivered to the Los Angeles District headquarters by the goodwill program’s sponsoring agency, the Veterans Advocacy Group of America, on Nov. 1. The cards will be forwarded to employees and others serving in temporary assignments in Afghanistan.
  • Dam operators play essential role in public safety

    Michael Moran is a dam operator at Santa Fe Dam and Reservoir, which is a flood risk management project constructed and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District. Built in 1949, the project is located on the San Gabriel River about four miles downstream from the mouth of the San Gabriel Canyon, near Irwindale, Calif. It is one of 13 dams in the District.
  • October

    Wildfire preparedness talk helps ready Corps employees

    Bill Peters, a fire prevention specialist from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or CalFire, spoke with District employees on the dangers of wildfires in Southern California during a lunch and learn session at the District's headquarters in Los Angeles Oct. 16.
  • Did You Know? LA District has a long history with Fort Irwin

    LOS ANGELES--The National Training Center was officially activated on Oct. 16, 1980, making the current incarnation of the sprawling Fort Irwin 33 years old. But did you know that the Los Angeles District worked under the direction of Gen. George S. Patton Jr. to procure the land to build an early and more vast version of NTC—then known as the Desert Training Center-California-Arizona Maneuver Area—in 1942?
  • Corps announces closure of Regulatory offices due to government shutdown

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District today announced it will close its Regulatory offices due to the absence of available federal funding. Regulatory offices will be unable to evaluate individual permit applications, Pre-Construction Notifications for Nationwide Permit or Regional General Permit authorizations, or requests for jurisdictional determinations until after current year funding is received and the offices reopen.
  • The LA River and the Corps: A brief history

    The Los Angeles River is regarded as an icon of LA’s sprawling hyperurbanization. To some, it’s nothing more than a part of the landscape that splits the concrete jungle in two. To others, it’s an eyesore; a resplendent piece of nature stunted in a tomb of steel and cement. But the 51-mile-long river wasn’t always a flood control channel.
  • Corps projects continue during government shutdown

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District projects continue to operate temporarily despite the government shutdown. Many Los Angeles District projects have enough remaining funding from past appropriations for work to continue beyond Oct. 1.
  • September

    South Pacific Division commander tours Fort Irwin flood damage

    FORT IRWIN, Calif.—-Brig. Gen. David Turner, commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers South Pacific