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  • September

    Cabel Patterson, environmental resource specialist with the Idaho Falls Regulatory Division Field Office, Walla Walla District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, conducts a compliance inspection during a site visit of a completed Beaver Dam Analog (BDA) restoration project at Spring Creek, a direct tributary of the South Fork Snake River, in Bonneville County, Sept. 3. The District’s Regulatory program covers the entire state, operating field offices in Boise, Coeur d’Alene, and Idaho Falls, along with support from headquarters in Walla Walla, Washington. Each year, specialists review about 2,000 permit-related actions, issue or verify more than 600 permits, and complete around 350 jurisdictional determinations. (U.S. Army photo courtesy of Brendan Jones)

    Remote regulatory team provides local answers for rural Idaho

    In a corner of the Idaho Department of Water Resources office at Idaho Falls, a remote regulatory team from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District, guide Idahoans through the complexities of land management on waterways.
  • The Jackson Levees are shown, Aug. 21, 2025, just below the Teton Range where more than 10,000 residents, along with homes, businesses, emergency facilities and farmland, are protected annually due to ongoing efforts from the Walla Walla District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

    USACE, Teton County partnership shields $1 billion in property from floods

    Along the Snake River, the sound of heavy equipment echoes off the Teton and the Gros Ventre mountains as crews place fresh riprap along the Jackson Levees. For the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Walla Walla District, it is the latest effort in more than a decade-long undertaking to protect lives and property in Wyoming, part of USACE’s broader national mission to safeguard communities against flooding.
  • (Left to Right) Ashley Armes, Administrative Services Assistant, LTC Kathyrn Werback, Walla Walla District Commander, with Hannah Boudreaux, Safety and Occupational Health Nurse and Program Manager, outside the mobile health clinic at Lower Granite Lock and Dam.

    Walla Walla District-led health initiative scales across USACE to strengthen Workforce readiness

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District is emphasizing a proactive approach toward workforce readiness by making medical surveillance a key component of its occupational health strategy.

  • August

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers assessing the draft tube bulkheads and potential of an empty turbine bay at Dworshak Dam by flooding the space. This is part of design work for adding a fourth hydropower unit.

    Dworshak’s “Skeleton Bay” flooded in key step toward regional energy growth

    On the banks of the North Fork Clearwater River, a new chapter is being written for one of the Pacific Northwest’s most important hydropower resources. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Walla Walla District, in partnership with the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), has taken a key step toward expanding the Dworshak Dam powerhouse with a fourth generating unit.
  • Charles Barnes, a fisheries biologist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Walla Walla District, speaks with members of the Family Farm Alliance during a tour of the Lower Granite Lock and Dam, July 17, 2025. Lower Granite Lock and Dam, located on the Snake River in southeastern Washington, includes a dam, navigation lock, powerhouse, fish ladder, and associated facilities. The project provides hydropower, navigation, flood risk management, fish and wildlife habitat, recreation, and incidental irrigation. The dam spans approximately 3,200 feet and has an effective height of 100 feet. It is a concrete gravity structure with an earthfill right abutment embankment.

    Lower Granite Lock and Dam marks 50 years on the Snake River

    On July 10, 2025, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District, celebrated the 3,200-feet-long Lower Granite Lock and Dam’s 50 years of service to the Pacific Northwest along with the generations of people who made it possible. Lower Granite Lock and Dam, located on the Snake River in southeastern Washington, includes a dam, navigation lock, powerhouse, fish ladder, and associated facilities. The project provides hydropower, navigation, flood risk management, fish and wildlife habitat, recreation, and incidental irrigation. The dam spans approximately 3,200 feet and has an effective height of 100 feet. It is a concrete gravity structure with an earthfill right abutment embankment.

  • July

    Kye Carpenter (3rd from left, front row), a natural resources specialist with the Tri-Rivers Natural Resouce Management (NRM) office, Walla Walla District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and other NRM specialists are shown in this 2019 group photo. Carpenter, a native of Pasco, Washington, has been a park ranger with USACE for over two decades, contributing to the agency's responsibility of providing safe and accessible recreation opportunities along 120 miles of river along the Snake and Columbia Rivers in the Pacifc Northwest.

    Washington native finds calling as USACE park ranger

    Kye Carpenter’s love for the outdoors began on the quiet banks of Washington’s rivers, fishing alongside his grandparents near Pasco. This year, as the nation celebrates National Park and Recreation Month, Carpenter is also being recognized on World Ranger Day, June 31, for his exemplary service as a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Park Ranger with the Walla Walla District.

  • June

    A USACE park ranger truck is parked alongside a road near Lucky Peak Dam.

    USACE crew acts fast aiding visitor during April rollover

    On April 23, a serious vehicle rollover near Lucky Peak Dam, of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Walla Walla District, tested the resolve and readiness of project staff, also revealing a team united by training, trust, and the will to help.
  • A USACE Park Ranger in uniform sits at desk.

    Quick actions by USACE staff help prevent tragedy

    A potentially tragic situation at Lucky Peak Dam was narrowly avoided thanks to the swift actions, situational awareness, and deep commitment of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Walla Walla District staff and Ada County law enforcement.

  • May

    Willow Walker, a reservoir regulator, Water Management Section, Walla Walla District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, looks across the landscape above Saint Louis Gulch, a valley, 3,215 feet above sea level, in Clearwater County Idaho, during the Walla Walla District's annual snow flight, April 10. Conducted in collaboration with the Idaho Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, this mission helps engineers with the Water Management Team of the Walla Walla District, assess mountain snowpack—nature’s high-altitude water reserve—crucial for forecasting regional water flow that sustains rivers, farms, and communities.

    Strengthening community resilience through engineering

    In spring 2025, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Walla Walla District Water Management team conducted its annual snow flight across southeastern Washington, Oregon, and Idaho—using aerial surveys and ground sampling to assess mountain snowpack’s depth, density, and melt stage. These measurements underpin precise runoff forecasts months in advance, guiding reservoir refill schedules, flood risk mitigation, hydropower release timing, and environmental flow requirements for the Columbia River Basin. The resultant forecasts support farmers’ irrigation planning, municipal and industrial water supply management, endangered fish flow scheduling, and recreational water‑level stability—strengthening regional resilience and community well‑being.

  • February

    Ice Harbor

    New innovation earns Ice Harbor Lock and Dam recognition

    Ice Harbor Lock and Dam has been honored as the Infrastructure Project of the Year by the American Shotcrete Association, due to a groundbreaking initiative to enhance hydroelectric efficiency and improve fish survival.

  • December

    McNary powerhouse

    Don’t bet on the weather: The role hydropower plays in balancing the grid during extreme circumstances

    The power grid produces as it is consumed. Energy production rises and falls in tandem with human activity, allowing electricity to flow continuously into homes and businesses . However, this flow can be interrupted.
  • Reviving Boise’s Barber Pool

    Reviving Boise’s Barber Pool

    Efforts to restore the Barber Pool Conservation Area in Boise, Idaho, are discussed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District personnel during a public scoping meeting held at Boise, Nov. 20, 2024. The initiative aims to rejuvenate the area’s ecosystems while enhancing public awareness and education. The meeting invited the public to hear more about the scope of the feasibility study and proposed efforts for restoration of the BPCA under the Continuing Authorities Program (CAP).

  • November

    Ryan Laughery stands in front of the Walla Walla District sign at the District Headquarters building. He is wearing a hard hat.

    Reinventing the Ladder: How a local engineer is making waves throughout the Division

    Born and raised only 30 miles away from the Walla Walla District headquarters, a young Dayton native never knew much about the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It wasn’t until after college that Ryan Laughery, hydraulics engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District, would come to realize the world of opportunities awaiting him one town over.
  • people marching in parade

    USACE Walla Walla District celebrates Veterans Day

    World War I officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, outside the town of Versailles, France. Seven months prior, an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, went into effect between the Allied nations and Germany on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Today, and every Nov. 11, we celebrate this armistice, the end of World War I and all the brave men and women who vowed to protect our country.

  • October

    Juan Gaytan, Electrical Engineer for the Walla Walla District, stands outside the Walla Walla District building in Walla Walla, Washington, on Oct. 15, 2024. Gaytan is actively engaged in seven civil work projects for the district, serving as the lead electrical designer for two of them.

    “I’ll keep trying;" A journey from Mexico to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

    It started in 1979 on the dirt streets of Zacatecas, Mexico, where a young boy named Juan Gaytan dreamed of a better life in the United States.
  • A man in a button-up shirt gives a speech to a small crowd from behind a podium at a local museum.

    McNary turns 70!

    As the population grew in the Pacific Northwest, communities formed around the Columbia and Snake rivers. Back then, the currents were temperamental and hard to navigate. However, there was a vision to create a highway, one that would allow barges to carry cargo from the Pacific Ocean to the confluence of the Snake and Clearwater rivers, 465 miles inland.

  • September

    team members gathered around a table. One man pointing decisively.

    Chasing the storm: Working with FEMA during Hurricane Beryl

    This summer, the record-breaking Hurricane Beryl entered the Caribbean Sea as a Category 5 hurricane before weakening to a Category 1 hurricane and hitting the Texas coast, July 8. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Walla Walla District Temporary Emergency Power Planning and Response Team (PRT) was on the ground supporting efforts to get the lights back on for over 2.7 million who lost power in the Houston area.
  • collage of photos of projects made by the walla walla district while partnering with other entities.

    Sharing the load: Partnering to keep people safe

    To prevent flooding in a desert, sometimes you must build a dam without a river.

  • July

    Eric Hedine looking at electrical panels

    Finding the spark: One Walla Walla native’s drive to become an electrical engineer

    Growing up, Eric Hedine loved science and pictured himself becoming a biologist. However, his plans shifted when he discovered electrical engineering.
  • Walla Walla District Welcomes New Commander

    Walla Walla District Welcomes New Commander

    The Walla Walla District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) held a change of command ceremony where Lt. Col. ShaiLin KingSlack relinquished command to Lt. Col. Katie Werback at the Marcus Whitman Hotel in Walla Walla, July 12.