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  • October

    Corps Marks 150 Years of Service to San Francisco District

    Consider how much of San Francisco and its surroundings have been touched over the past 150 years by the presence of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers which began operations in the Bay Area a century and a half ago this year. From paving the way for the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge to the massive recovery from an earthquake that nearly destroyed the city, San Francisco might have evolved very differently had the Corps not played a key engineering role in the city’s development and preservation.

  • September

    Attracting Young Talent a Challenge, Says New SPD Commander

    The new commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers South Pacific Division, headquartered in a city overflowing with millennials, has acknowledged the Corps needs to find new ways of attracting young people to the federal workforce.

  • August

    San Francisco Hydrologist Recognized for Expertise in Assessing Sea Level Rise

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hydrologist Patrick O’Brien has been awarded the agency’s Climate Champion award for his expertise in assessing how sea level rise will affect vulnerable infrastructure.

  • July

    Mariners May Not Have Heard of the 'Raccoon' but are Dependent on the Scavenger Vessel

    Vessels and mariners of all shapes, sizes and abilities ply the San Francisco Bay, often challenged by strong tides, rough winds and blinding fog. Most are probably unaware that on the water with them is an 80-year-old vessel whose presence is key to keeping them safe.

  • Regional Officials Get Levee Safety Update

    With California’s rainy season and what had been dire predictions of an El Nino weather pattern now behind them, leaders of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers San Francisco District brought together water safety officials from across the region July 7 to provide an update on Corps levee safety and security issues.

  • June

    Mickey Ganitch, a Pearl Harbor survivor, is shown on the San Francisco Giants scoreboard May 25. The outing was organized by the Department of California Disabled American Veterans and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers San Francisco District.

    Veterans tour SF Bay Area onboard USACE vessel

    A group of 25 disabled veterans, family members, friends and caregivers boarded the M/V John A. B. Dillard, Jr., May 25 for a tour of such Bay Area landmarks as the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz and concluding at AT&T Park for a Giants-Padres baseball game. The veterans are residents at the Veterans Community Services Living and Resource Rehabilitaion Center in Martinez, Calif.

  • May

    Temporary Ban on camp fires in place at Lake Sonoma

    San Francisco - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has ordered a temporary ban on camp fires and open flames in all boat-in and hike-in campgrounds at Lake Sonoma
  • Spencer Langston, a crewmember from the M/V John A. B. Dillard, Jr., is raised out of the water by a davit system May 5. The Dillard crew conducted three days of rescue swimmer training in the San Francisco Bay May 3-5.

    Dillard crew conducts rescue swimmer training in SF Bay

    SAN FRANCISCO -- Crewmembers from the M/V John A. B. Dillard, Jr., braved frigid and choppy waters May 5 as they conducted rescue swimmer training in the San Francisco Bay.
  • Front page of the San Francisco Chronicle following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.

    Readiness chief is well prepared for the next quake

    Duke Roberts is chief of readiness for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers San Francisco District. His job is to make sure his agency is prepared to respond to natural disasters including the kind never far from the minds of San Franciscans: earthquakes.

  • It's All About Water for San Francisco Regulatory Staff

    "Water affects everything we do in California," which is why, according to Sahrye Cohen of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers San Francisco district, "the Corps' main regulatory goal is to balance impacts to aquatic resources and the environment with the ability to have appropriate develpment in the Bay Area."

  • October

    A levee at Sears Point in Sonoma County, Calif., is breached as part of a project to restore wetlands and protect the San Francisco Bay Area against anticipated sea level rise. The largest private environmental project in the Bay Area was authorized by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers San Francisco District under terms of the Clean Water Act.

    Bay Area environmental restoration project reaches a milestone

    SAN FRANCISCO - The largest private environmental restoration project in the Bay Area -- authorized by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers two years ago – reached a major milestone this week with the breaching of a levee that will allow the San Francisco Bay to expand northward, restoring marshland and wildlife while also providing protection against sea-level rise.
  • Brig Gen. Mark Toy, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers South Pacific Division, inspects operations at Lake Sonoma’s Warm Springs Dam, north of San Francisco. Toy discussed dam operations to reduce flood risk and protect people downstream as California enters a rainy season expected to be dominated by an El Nino weather pattern.

    Army Corps of Engineers prepares for strong El Nino in Bay Area

    SAN FRANCISCO – From gauging water levels behind dams, insuring the durability of levees, to working with local communities, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in San Francisco has embarked on an extensive effort to prepare the Bay Area and its network of waterways, wetlands and reservoirs for the arrival of an El Nino weather pattern which forecasters warn could bring prolonged periods of heavy rain, mudslides and flooding to a region more accustomed to years of drought.
  • A child plays at Lake Mendocino’s Bushay Campground, operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, where evacuees from wildfires Northern California have taken refuge. (Photo by Christopher Schooley, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.)

    In California, Army Corps of Engineers pledges on-going help for wildfire victims

    SAN FRANCISCO - With thousands of people forced from their homes by wildfires in three Northern California counties, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has pledged to continue to provide available space to accommodate evacuees at two Corps-operated campgrounds in the area free of charge, officials said.
  • The shoreline of San Francisco could be affected by predicted rises in sea levels in the coming decades.

    Army Corps of Engineers weighing options for protecting vital Bay Area infastructure from sea level rise

    SAN FRANCISCO –Predicted rises in sea levels triggered by climate change threaten millions of people and could inflict billions of dollars in property losses and economic damage, particularly in the Bay Area where the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is considering options for protecting densely populated areas of the coastline including critical infrastructure such as the region’s major airport and much of Silicon valley.

  • September

    A proposal by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers San Francisco District to help protect the heart of Silicon Valley from catastrophic flooding includes what would be the largest estuary restoration project in the Western United States. The region includes Alviso Marina, gateway to the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

    Army Corps of Engineers presents plan to reduce threat of flooding triggered by climate change along San Francisco Bay

    WASHINGTON -- In what amounts to the largest estuary restoration project in the Western United States, leaders of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ San Francisco District have proposed a nearly $175 million plan to help protect the heart of Silicon Valley from catastrophic flooding. It’s a region that is home not only to the giants of the technology industry but some of the nation’s most expensive residential real estate now at significant risk of flooding because of climate change and predicted sea level rise.

  • July

    Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick, left, commanding general and chief of engineers, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, arrives at Monterey Airport prior to taking a tour of the Presidio of Monterey, one of several projects he visited while in the San Francisco Bay Area.

    South Pacific Commander visits Bay Area projects

    SAN FRANCISCO - The general in charge of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ operations for all of the Southwestern United States got a first-hand look this week at how Corps projects in the San Francisco Bay Area are improving the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of residents and contributing to the region’s multi-billion dollar shipping industry.

  • May

    South Pacific Division leaders discuss pressing environmental issues

    LAKE SONOMA, Calif. – Led by South Pacific Division Commander Brig. Gen. Mark Toy, leaders from across the region held three days of discussion last week on a range of division operations at the San Francisco District’s Lake Sonoma -- everything from enhancing communications and team building to viewing the effects of a drought now in its fourth year and its impact on Corps environmental and fish habitat restoration projects.

  • December

    USACE receives new biological opinion on 2012 Nationwide Permits

    3 December 2014 - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has received a final biological opinion from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries on the USACE nationwide permits that were reissued on Feb. 13, 2012, and went into effect on March 19, 2012. The biological opinion was issued on Nov. 24, 2014, and it concludes the re-initiated programmatic consultation on the Endangered Species Act that began in July 2012 between the two agencies.

  • September

    Selfless Service

    By J.D. HardestySan Francisco District Not all military awards for bravery are earned in combat.  On

  • May

    During the month of April, 2014, the San Francisco District’s logistics team donated 337 items valued at $399,510 to the San Francisco School District thru the U.S. General Services Administration’s Computers for Learning program. Education is a national priority. Every Child should be educated to his or her full potential. The Computers for Learning program helps accomplish this goal by increasing access to technology. Transferring a computer to a school gives students the resources to succeed and build a successful future for America. The Computers for Learning program places computers in classrooms and prepares children to contribute and compete in the 21st century. The CFL program allows government agencies to transfer excess computer equipment to schools and educational nonprofit organizations, giving special consideration to those with the greatest need.

    Computers for Learning - Reusing the Government's Resources

    During the month of April, 2014, the San Francisco District’s logistics team donated 337 items