26 Nov 2013

Exercising Safety: Bear Creek, Cherry Creek and Chatfield dams catch floodwaters while reducing flooding risks

A stalled front brings record rainfall to the Front Range of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The runoff brings a surge of water through canyons and foothills and into major population centers of central Colorado. But, this surge of water happened only in a virtual environment. During the week of Aug. 19, several employees from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District participated in a safety exercise focused on Cherry Creek Dam and Reservoir near Denver, Colo. – or more to the point, in the middle of the Denver metropolitan area.

24 Oct 2013

Colorado flooding brings flood of attention to vital regulatory permitting program

In mid September, a wet monsoonal pattern stalled along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains bringing heavy rains to the foothills west of Boulder. The resulting flooding impacted roads, bridges and other infrastructure, with rivers carving new channels and eroding riverbanks. Major roadways in the Estes Park area sustained severe damages with limited alternatives to access these areas for repairs. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District activated its Emergency Operations Center Sept. 12, in preparation for the anticipated requests for assistance during and following the resulting flooding. Calls also began to flood the Omaha District’s Denver Regulatory office located on Chatfield Dam near Littleton, Colo.

19 Sep 2013

Corps expert has challenging career

Julie Clements, is a health physicist in Huntsville Center’s Environmental and Munitions Center of Expertise, Environmental Sciences Division in Omaha, Neb. She works in a demanding environment and carries out multiple missions aimed at keeping workers and the public safe. She says that’s what makes her field of engineering so dynamic.

16 Sep 2013

Recognizing volunteer’s 10 years as Fort Peck fixture

Meet Duane Johnson. Of course, anyone camping at Fort Peck Lake in the last 10 years probably knows him. He has been the volunteer campground host at the Downstream and West End Campgrounds in Fort Peck, Mont., since 2003. Every year, for the last 10 years, April through October, he has been a mainstay.

19 Jul 2013

Stolen artifacts returned to Navajo Nation

On July 9, the Corps of Engineers repatriated a large cache of sacred artifacts to the Navajo Nation. The Omaha District, with some assistance from the Albuquerque District, returned the artifacts in accordance with the Archaeological Resources Protection Act. The artifacts were looted from Corps of Engineers-managed land and Navajo tribal lands. A total of 710 artifacts were recovered from lands managed both by the Corps of Engineers and the Navajo Nation. Out of these, 425 were determined to be the property of the Navajo Nation, and were returned.