News Releases

JOINT NEWS RELEASE: Federal, local collaboration expedites earthen berm construction ahead of 2026 GLOF

Press Operations — Thu, 11 Jun 2026 00:15:00 GMT

Juneau citizens will see new infrastructure poised to mitigate the flood risk of the annual glacial lake outburst flooding event caused by Mendenhall Glacier near Back Loop Road. A new earthen berm is in the works due to the partnership between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Alaska District, U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service and City and Borough of Juneau.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers waives day use fees at recreation areas in observance of Army Corps of Engineers’ Birthday

Press Operations — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 20:39:00 GMT

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that it will waive day use fees at its more than 2,800 USACE-operated recreation areas nationwide in observance of its birthday, June 16. The waiver covers fees for boat launch ramps and swimming beaches. The waiver does not apply to camping and camping-related services, or fees for specialized facilities (group picnic shelters) and events. Other agencies that manage recreation areas on USACE lands are encouraged, but not required, to offer the waiver in the areas that they manage.

Day use fees waived at recreation areas June 16 for Corps’ birthday

Press Operations — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 20:19:55 GMT

SAVANNAH, Ga. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will waive day use fees at its more than 2,800 USACE-operated recreation areas nationwide in observance of its birthday, June 16, 2026.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announces temporary road closure in support of the Fargo-Moorhead diversion project

Press Operations — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 18:48:31 GMT

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, in coordination with the Metro Flood Diversion Authority and Minnesota Department of Transportation, will be temporarily closing a portion of U.S. Highway 75, starting June 15.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers waives day use fees at recreation areas in observance of Army Corps of Engineers’ Birthday

Press Operations — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 16:28:00 GMT

VICKSBURG, Miss – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers today announced that it will waive day use fees at its more than 2,800 USACE-operated recreation areas nationwide in observance of its birthday, June 16. The waiver covers fees for boat launch ramps and swimming beaches. The waiver does not apply to camping and camping-related services, or fees for specialized facilities (group picnic shelters) and events. Other agencies that manage recreation areas on USACE lands are encouraged, but not required, to offer the waiver in the areas that they manage.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers waives day use fees at recreation areas in observance of Army Corps’ birthday

Press Operations — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 14:30:00 GMT

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District announces it will waive day-use fees at all district-operated recreation areas in observance of the Army Corps’ birthday, June 16.

Considerations for Potential Use of an Agent-Based Model in a Petri Network Framework to Model Roost Tree Dynamics of Bats

Press Operations — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 20:36:00 GMT

Purpose: The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is responsible for numerous projects that involve altering or removing wildlife habitat, including habitat of species listed as threatened, endangered, or sensitive (TES). Before initiating a project that may affect TES species, USACE must determine the project’s impact to these species. Understanding the degree of impact, both positive and negative, allows USACE to compare alternatives to reduce negative effects. Because of this, USACE planners need tools to provide accurate assessments of project impacts. Conservation efforts for bats have focused on protecting habitat, especially diurnal roosting trees. Roost trees serve not only as daytime shelter for bats but also for rearing pups until they are able to fly (Barbour and Davis 1969). Determining the impact of habitat change by empirically testing the response of bats to habitat modification has proved difficult because of the effects it may have on TES bats as well as its cost. Simulating the effects of habitat change using computer models provides an excellent data alternative for USACE planners. This technical note explains how agent-based models within a petri network framework can provide USACE planners with information on how habitat modification will affect bat presence or absence.

USACE waives day use fees at recreation areas in observance of agency’s birthday

Press Operations — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 20:19:12 GMT

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Little Rock District will waive day use fees at its recreation

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers waives day use fees at recreation areas in observance of Army Corps of Engineers’ Birthday

Press Operations — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:46:00 GMT

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers today announced that it will waive day use fees at its more than 2,800 USACE-operated recreation areas nationwide in observance of its birthday, June 16.

MKARNS Nav Notice SWL 26-20 Caution Advisory NM 291.6 I-49 Bridge

Press Operations — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 13:55:10 GMT

Mariners are advised that starting June 15th, 2026, bridge construction activities will continue at NM 291.6, downstream of James W. Trimble Lock and Dam (No. 13). This work will be on the bridge pier adjacent to the navigation channel on the left descending side.

Metabarcoding Stem Residue as a Novel Environmental DNA (eDNA) Tool to Identify Spread of Phragmites australis Biological Control Agents

Press Operations — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 20:46:00 GMT

Abstract: Detection and monitoring of biological control agents are critical for evaluating their establishment and spread yet remain challenging when species are cryptic, and densities are low. We assessed whether environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding of stem residues could be used to detect and distinguish the stem-boring noctuid moths Archanara neurica and Lenisa geminipuncta, biological control agents of introduced Phragmites australis released in Ontario, Canada. Using 16S rDNA metabarcoding supplemented with newly generated reference sequences, we analyzed stem residue samples spanning a gradient of quality, including laboratory culture stems (in which agent larvae were present at the time of sampling), conﬁrmed Canadian release sites, and degraded stems from un-managed Phragmites stands in western New York, USA. Target species were consistently detected in laboratory samples, where they comprised 76.7–100% (L. geminipuncta) and 79.2–100% (A. neurica) of Lepidoptera reads. At Canadian release sites, A. neurica was detected in 5 of 11 samples and L. geminipuncta in all 10 samples, with relative read abundances ranging from trace levels to > 90%. Among 27 damaged stems collected in the United States, A. neurica and L. geminipuncta DNA was detected in three samples at very low abundances (0.003–0.12% of total reads), representing the ﬁrst molecular evidence consistent with trans-border dispersal of these agents. Although detections were rare and do not conﬁrm population establishment, results demonstrate that stem-residue eDNA metabarcoding provides a sensitive, non-invasive tool for early detection and post-release monitoring of biological control agents for invasive plants.

Pomme de Terre Lake beaches to reopen following successful water quality testing

Press Operations — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 20:21:03 GMT

The Kansas City District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, with its Pomme De Terre Lake Project Office, announces the reopening of designated swimming beaches Wheatland and Nemo, effective immediately following confirmation of safe water quality levels.

Evaluating Migratory Fish Passage at Partial Migration Barriers in a Social-Ecological Riverscape

Press Operations — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 19:53:00 GMT

Abstract: Anthropogenic partial barriers, such as low-head locks and dams, fragment social-ecological riverscapes and limit migratory ﬁsh access to historical spawning habitats, creating trade-offs between ecological conservation and human needs. Fish passage mitigation strategies at three low-head locks and dams on the Cape Fear River, North Carolina, across two contrasting mitigation regimes included (i) a nature-like ﬁshway at LD1, (ii) conservation locking at LD2 and LD3, and (iii) environmental ﬂow prescriptions when locks were inoperable. We evaluated passage of American shad and striped bass using acoustic telemetry and multistate models within a Bayesian framework to estimate upstream passage probabilities under varying ﬂow conditions and management regimes. Passage probabilities for both species were higher in 2013–2015 when conservation locking was conducted. In contrast, passage declined when locks were inoperable and only e-ﬂows allowed passage during dam submergence events in 2022–2023. Flow positively inﬂuenced passage, with strongest effects for striped bass; however, the nature-like ﬁshway exhibited consistently low passage probability, and modiﬁcations did not improve passage probabilities. Given low passage probabilities during the recent mitigation period, improving longitudinal connectivity for diadromous ﬁsh in this river necessitates ﬂexible, integrated operational, structural, and ﬂow-based strategies. Possible future mitigation actions to improve ﬁsh passage could include resuming conservation locking, structural interventions such as bypass channel construction and dam height lowering that extends dam submergence, and continued use of e-ﬂows.

Emulation of Peak Storm Surge Across Extended Spatial Domains Using Separable Gaussian Process Techniques

Press Operations — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 19:51:00 GMT

Abstract: Data-driven emulation of peak storm surge has emerged as a popular strategy for overcoming limitations arising from the computational burden of high-ﬁdelity hydrodynamic numerical models used within coastal risk assessment applications. The surrogate models used for this emulation are developed using suites of synthetic storm simulations, and once calibrated, can replace the original high-ﬁdelity model to establish predictions for new storms. These predictions pertain to the geographic domain, and therefore nodal locations, covered by the original high-ﬁdelity simulation suite. This creates a two-dimensional space for the peak surge predictions, with one corresponding to the storm features and the other to the spatial domain. Gaussian Process techniques have emerged as a widely popular surrogate modeling technique for peak surge emulation. In all GP implementations so far, the spatial variability has been incorporated in the analysis through the metamodel output, considering a multi-output GP implementation. This approach fails to explicitly model spatial dependencies for the peak surge. To address this shortcoming, this study examines an alternative implementation that considers spatial and storm feature variability as part of the metamodel input, establishing a surrogate model that simultaneously predicts the peak storm surge across both the spatial domain and the storm features. For computational tractability, a separable covariance function is considered for the GP, establishing separate kernels for the spatial and storm feature spaces. Particularly for the spatial domain, an adaptive covariance tapering formulation, which infuses sparsity in the corresponding covariance matrix, is adopted to support applications with a large number of nodal locations. A simultaneous calibration approach for the hyperparameters of the separate kernels is further proposed to improve emulation accuracy. Comparisons of computational efﬁciency and accuracy of the alternative GP implementations are established utilizing the Coastal Hazards System–North Atlantic database, with those employing the adaptive covariance tapering formulation evaluated under varying sparsity levels. The case study demonstrates that the simultaneous hyperparameter calibration is beneﬁcial for the separable GP's predictive accuracy, particularly as it relates to the worst-performing nodes in the domain, and that the imposed sparsity level impacts the separable GP's ability to model non-stationary spatial trends in the domain.

MoistViT: A Vision Transformer Model for Moisture Content Prediction of Wood Chips

Press Operations — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 19:49:00 GMT

Abstract: Moisture content in wood chips is a critical parameter for industries such as pelleting mills, bio-refineries, paper mills, and renewable energy production. The moisture level significantly influences both the quality of the final product and the efficiency of the production process. Consequently, accurate knowledge of moisture content is of substantial importance to wood chip-reliant industries. However, current methods for determining moisture content are either time-consuming or require costly equipment and specialized setups. Therefore, developing a quick and reliable method for assessing wood chip moisture content is imperative. To address this need, we evaluate fourteen Vision Transformer (ViT) architectures and introduce an optimized model, MoistViT, developed using Bayesian Optimization Hyperband (BOHB) for efficient hyperparameter tuning. Experiments on two wood chip image datasets (1600 total images) show that MoistViT achieves 91% accuracy and 92% F1-score on Source 1 and 93% accuracy and 93% F1-score on Source 2, outperforming all baseline models. Subsequently, a thorough analysis of failure cases has been carried out, including the identification of the most challenging groups of moisture levels. These analyses provide valuable insights into the complex task of determining moisture content from inherently heterogeneous wood chips. The proposed MoistViT demonstrates significant potential for real-time applications in relevant industries, which could ultimately lead to a streamlined production process.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announces temporary partial closure of Raystown Lake for dam maintenance

Press Operations — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 16:14:00 GMT

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Baltimore District, will temporarily close the area of Raystown Lake downstream of Mile Marker 1 to all boat traffic from June 11-23, 2026, to allow construction workers to safely perform underwater and surface work on portions of Raystown Dam’s mechanical equipment.

USACE issues small craft advisory for Arkansas River

Press Operations — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 15:53:49 GMT

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is issuing a small craft advisory for the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System in Arkansas. Heavy rainfall in eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas has resulted in Arkansas River flows exceeding 70,000 cubic feet per second.

Stamford Hurricane Protection Barrier Update

Press Operations — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 19:34:22 GMT

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, announced that funding has been secured to

Army Corps awards contract for Avalon and Stone Harbor beach nourishment

Press Operations — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 17:05:00 GMT

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Philadelphia District has awarded a $15.8 million contract to Norfolk Dredging Company to conduct periodic nourishment of the Townsends Inlet to Cape May Inlet (Avalon & Stone Harbor) dune and beachfill project. The project is a joint effort between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and the boroughs of Avalon and Stone Harbor.

Road Closure over Red Rock Dam June 9-11

Press Operations — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 16:19:13 GMT

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District, announces a full road closure to Highway T15 across the Red Rock Dam June 9-11. The closure is necessary for the ongoing rehabilitation project on the Red Rock Dam gates.