Home / Media / News Stories

  • October

    Crowds line the fence during a demonstration held at the St. Lucie Lock & Dam August 3 to protest the discharges from Lake Okeechobee to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee River Estuaries. An estimated 5,000 people attended the event.

    All in a day’s work: South Florida Operations Office multi-tasks all summer

    During normal operations, the staff is responsible for the Okeechobee Waterway, the recreation areas around the locks, maintenance on Herbert Hoover Dike, and numerous other tasks. However, as the water rose on Lake Okeechobee this summer, SFOO staff had to adjust duties to accommodate other priorities, such as weekly inspections of the 80-year-old dike.
  • Frank Araico (left), project manager for the Mullet Key Bombing and Gunnery Range Formerly Used Defense Site, shows a local news reporter maps that detail where military activities took place on the site during World War II. A Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study is currently under way.

    Work begins at Mullet Key Formerly Used Defense Site

    Investigations have begun on the Mullet Key Bombing and Gunnery Range Formerly Used Defense Site, now known as Fort DeSoto County Park on Tampa Bay. Soon after the Labor Day holiday, contractors for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began surveying the site to mark the areas for investigation, which will then be cleared of brush and swept with digital metal detectors to identify buried metallic objects that may potentially be munitions remaining from past military activities.
  • Wild hogs cause problems at levees because they dig around them, allowing other invasive plants to get established and increasing costs for treating invasives on the levee that normally wouldn’t be there.

    Going Hog Wild

    With their growing population, feral hogs are threatening human, animal and native species health throughout Florida. Their rooting behavior destroys habitat, kills plants and creates disturbed areas where invasive plants can easily grow. They carry diseases that can infect livestock or humans.
  • Murika Davis (right), CEPP engineering lead, and Gretchen Ehlinger (left), CEPP environmental lead, discuss the project’s Tentatively Selected Plan with meeting attendants during the open house portion of the Sept. 17 meeting in Fort Myers, Fla. (

    Public input received during series of public meetings for Central Everglades Planning Project

    Five public meetings were held throughout south Florida Sept. 16-19 and Sept. 25 to discuss the draft report. Meeting attendants ranged from environmental, agricultural and recreational interest groups to high school students and local residents.

  • September

    The Palm Valley Reach of the Intracoastal Waterway, where structures along the federal channel are plentiful.

    Regulatory rolls out revised setback guidance

    In the interest of navigation safety and waterway accessibility, Regulatory Division rolled out its revised setback guidance for structures placed along certain federal channels at a series of public meetings, held in Deerfield Beach, Palm Beach Gardens and Palm Valley, Fla. in August.
  • PowerCorps, led by coach Mike Ornella, Sr. (far left) defeated Going Coastal, led by coach Marty Durkin (fourth from right, kneeling) in an all-Corps championship tournament of the Federal Fun League. PowerCorps had a perfect season, capped by their eighth championship in 10 years.

    PowerCorps caps perfect season with eighth championship

    The Federal Fun League wrapped up their 41st softball season Wednesday, July 31 with their annual championship tournament at Willowbranch Park. The 2013 league included teams from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); Jax Federal Credit Union, Naval Facilities Engineering (NAVFAC); U.S. Attorney’s Office/U.S. Probation Office, two teams from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS); and three teams from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District – Better-By-Design, Going Coastal and PowerCorps.
  • Kissimmee River oxbow near Phase IV-A

    “River of Interests” is first Corps publication honored by American Library Association

    In June 2013, Jacksonville District’s “River of Interests: Water Management in South Florida and the Everglades, 1948-2010” became the first U.S. Army Corps of Engineers publication to be placed on the American Library Association’s (ALA) 2012 Notable Documents list. It was one of 20 federal publications to be so honored.
  • The historic Kissimmee River floodplain, north of Lake Okeechobee, is about 1-3 miles wide. This photo from May 7, 2013 is a view looking north in the Central Phase 1 Kissimmee River restoration area during late dry season conditions. The uplands start at the edge of the floodplain and the boundary is marked by Live Oaks, which show up as dark green areas at the top of the picture. The floodplain here is about 1.5 miles wide, and the water that collects here eventually flows into Lake Okeechobee.

    Lake Okeechobee: Following the flow

    A diagram of Lake Okeechobee, with arrows that show water flowing into the lake from the north and flowing out of the lake to the east, west and south may look simple; however, the reality is much more complex.
  • Beach nourishment projects provide storm damage reduction to infrastructure as well as incidental recreational opportunities for local, national and international visitors. Faced with depleted sand sources in Miami-Dade County, the Corps recently conducted a series of scoping meetings to discuss potential alternative sources.

    Search for sand under way for Miami-Dade beaches

    Florida’s coastline is one of the largest in the nation, and its beaches are plentiful. The average person would think that sand is an endless resource and would never run out. However, for Miami-Dade County, sand that is dependable, economical and environmentally practicable is nearly depleted.
  • Operation Warfighter (OWF) is a Department of Defense program that places active duty service members in internships with federal agencies during their recovery.

    Operation Warfighter Program benefits local Soldier, Jacksonville District

    A 15-month deployment, especially a first deployment, does not typically involve tours in three

  • August

    Swimmers cooled down at the W.P. Franklin swim beach while enjoying a sunny July 4th weekend.

    Independence Day on the Okeechobee Waterway

    The W.P. Franklin South Recreation Area in Alva was a popular destination on the July 4th weekend, receiving more than 2,000 visitors. The swim beach provided a welcome place for families to splash, play and stay cool.
  • Tegu hatchlings have a green coloration on their head, which usually fades within a few months. On average, a mature female tegu will lay around 35 eggs a year. In Florida, tegus hatch in the early summer.

    South American lizards slither into south Florida

    Hailing from South America, the tegu, an exotic lizard, has made its way into the Sunshine State and is now considered to be established in the south Florida region.
  • Hansler Bealyer (right), chief of the Real Estate Acquisition Branch, accompanies engineers Tony Smith (center) and Tim Gysan (left) on a River Acres site visit, to ensure real estate interests are appropriately addressed.

    Real estate plays important role in civil works and military projects

    More than a decade after leaving Jacksonville District as a realty specialist to assume an 18-month tour with the Installation Management Agency, Europe, Audrey Ormerod has come full circle, returning to the district as the Real Estate Division chief.
  • Roseate Spoonbills and the endangered West Indian manatee are among the species that call the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge home. If approved to fly the restricted airspace over the refuge, unmanned aircraft systems may provide potential, unobtrusive opportunities for research, environmental and wildlife data collection.

    Unmanned Aircraft Systems working group examines capabilities, future opportunities

    A group of leaders from the University of Central Florida, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, University of Florida, Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), Space Florida and the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) gathered June 24 to discuss the possibility of using unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) around the Cape Canaveral area.
  • Course participants learned the proper procedures for launching and retrieving a boat.

    Motorboat Operator training provides certification and skills needed to perform a wide range of duties

    In May and June, the South Florida Operations Office hosted a 32-hour motorboat licensing course and two 8-hour refresher courses at the W.P. Franklin Lock Recreation Area on the Okeechobee Waterway. Thirteen Jacksonville District employees participated in the program, designed to ensure that operators are adequately trained, properly tested and licensed prior to the official operation of any Corps boat or vessel less than 26 feet in length.
  • This panther kitten was discovered in the Fakahatchee State Park Preserve, just east of the Picayune Strand Restoration Project area.

    It’s a girl! Kitten born to rescued and released Florida panther

    In September 2011, a pair of orphaned five-month-old Florida panther kittens was rescued by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) biologists, after their mother was found dead. Too young to survive on their own, they were raised in captivity at White Oak Plantation in Yulee, Fla., with the goal of one day releasing them back into the wild.
  • Civil engineer Jessamyn Fluitt, Engineering Division, assists students with the water tower construction at the one-day STEM event at the University of North Florida.

    District supports local STEM initiative

    In an effort to pique the interest of middle school students toward science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines, Jacksonville District partnered with Mentoring Families and Kids, Inc., (MFK) at the Second Annual STEM Camp, held at the University of North Florida, June 28.
  • Portugués Dam (looking upstream) now fills the river valley as it nears completion near Ponce, Puerto Rico. Construction is expected to wrap up by the end of the year, with operational testing taking place for most of 2014.

    Portugués Dam nears completion

    Despite the threat from Tropical Storm Chantal, more than 30 residents from Ponce, Puerto Rico and surrounding areas attended a meeting July 9 to learn more about Jacksonville District’s Portugués Dam, which is nearing completion after several years of design and construction.
  • A view of operations at Port Everglades, where Jacksonville District is conducting a study to address the potential widening of the entrance channel and deepening of the navigation channel from its current 42 feet to a depth of 48 feet.

    Port studies reach critical milestones

    Two major milestones have been met, with the release of the draft tentatively selected plan for the Jacksonville Harbor Deepening Study and the Port Everglades Feasibility Study.
  • “We’ve got to create more jobs today, doing what you’re doing right here at JAXPORT, and that’s building this country’s future,” said President Barack Obama in his July 25 address to a capacity crowd at JAXPORT.

    Obama stresses importance of ports during visit to Jacksonville

    Addressing a standing-room-only audience at JAXPORT July 25, President Barack Obama stressed the importance of maintaining the nation’s ports and aging infrastructure. Hundreds gathered to hear Obama’s plan for moving the economy forward, starting with passing legislation to authorize two local port projects that would put people back to work in Jacksonville. “In a couple of years, new supertankers are going to start coming through the Panama Canal,” said Obama. “We want those supertankers to come here, to Jacksonville.”