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  • July

    Lionfish were first reported off Florida’s Atlantic Coast in 1985, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission website. Lionfish can reach up to 22 inches in length and have a venomous spine that can cause painful wounds.

    Lionfish continue to populate, pose threats to coral reefs

    Their dorsal spines and zebra-like bodies may draw one in for a closer look. Commonly used in aquariums for show, the invasive lionfish has made its way from the South Pacific and Indian Oceans to the east coast. In the past decade, they’ve been rapidly expanding from Florida to North Carolina, as well as the Caribbean.
  • Mike Ornella, Interagency and International Services branch chief, addresses celebration attendees. Ornella says the small IIS program operates on a limited budget but contributes a considerable percentage to the district’s full time equivalent.

    District celebrates 19 years of Interagency and International Services support

    Staff gathered Thursday, June 6, to celebrate the 19th birthday of Jacksonville District’s Interagency and International Services (IIS) program. Joining the celebration were two former employees who were instrumental to the program’s creation.
  • Engineers Without Borders traveled to the community of Las Vegas in the Nahuaterique region of Honduras in May 2013, to gain water rights from landowners and establish community relations. Crystal Markley (right) is pictured with (l to r) Santos Cristobal (Treasurer of the Las Vegas Water Board) and his daughter , EWB-USA team member Rich Roberts and an unknown community team member.

    Making people’s lives better: engineer donates time and talents to help others

    With about 12,000 members, Engineers Without Borders-USA (EWB-USA) currently works on more than 350 projects in 45 developing countries to improve the lives of millions of people around the world.
  • Senior leaders from Jacksonville District listen as Emergency Management Branch Chief Aaron Stormant fires questions to the group during a Continuity of Operations (COOP) exercise conducted June 4. The exercise tested the COOP plan through a discussion on how critical operations would be conducted if the district’s headquarters building were inaccessible due to disaster.

    Jacksonville District prepares for potential emergency

    The exercise tested the COOP plan, which identifies critical actions that must continue in the event the district’s headquarters building was no longer inhabitable because of fire, flood or some other event.
  • The members of EMC Magnitude Design, Inc. at Booker Creek, the site of their award-winning water environment improvement design. Pictured left to right is Miki Skinner, Caitlin Hoch and Brett French. Team members not pictured are Erin Morrison and Josh Becker.

    Regulatory’s Caitlin Hoch and team headed to national competition

    Tampa Regulatory Office’s newest environmental engineer Caitlin Hoch has already added a pretty impressive credential to her resume. The recent University of South Florida graduate and her student design team, EMC Magnitude Design, Inc. took first place in a recent competition sponsored by the Florida Water Environment Association, beating 10 other teams from seven state universities. They will advance to represent the state in the national competition at the Water Environment Federation Technical Exhibition and Conference this fall.

  • June

    A survey of laurel wilt damage to swampbays in an Everglades tree island.

    Laurel wilt – a possible threat to Everglades restoration

    First discovered in 2005 in Duval County, laurel wilt disease has since spread south and is covering a vast section of Tamiami Trail, potentially threatening the Everglades. The disease, caused by a fungus transmitted by the invasive redbay ambrosia beetle, kills avocado and other trees in the laurel family
  • Archaeologists Grady Caulk (left) and Wendy Weaver (right) conduct archaeological investigations at the 8.5 Square Mile project.

    Archaeologists help preserve the past, link to the future

    Archaeological evidence shows that the area that we now know as Florida has been occupied by man since around 12,000 B.C. Known as Paleo-indians, these inhabitants lived off of available plants and animals, including mega-fauna such as the mastodon or the 12-foot-tall giant ground sloth that once roamed Florida. Over time, Florida slowly evolved into what we see today, with climate and sea levels becoming more stabilized.
  • Significant erosion from Hurricane Sandy is visible from the sky in Brevard County along the Atlantic Ocean. Although the storm caused more damage in New York and New Jersey, Floridians in several counties were also impacted.

    Emergency Management Branch prepares for hurricane season

    Continuing to operate in the aftermath of a major storm will be the focus of an exercise the district is conducting with its leaders June 4. The continuity of operations, or COOP exercise, allows the district to review its plan for conducting its most crucial tasks after it loses a critical facility, such as its main office.
  • Outreach program specialist and former middle school teacher Erica Skolte spoke to eighth grade students at Polo Park Middle School about what the Everglades were like prior to being altered by man.

    The student connection: Corps employees reach out to local schools

    For the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, this time of year provides an opportunity to educate future engineers and scientists on the breadth of the district’s work and the contributions it makes to the quality of life in Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. All Corps team members are representatives for the Corps in their own communities. Every interaction provides a potential opportunity to share information about the district’s programs and projects.
  • A view of Palm Beach Harbor, the site of the Lake Worth Inlet Feasibility Study, which evaluates the potential widening and deepening of the channel.

    Lake Worth Inlet moves forward with release of draft report to public

    In May, the Lake Worth Inlet project team reached a major milestone with the release of the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) to the public. A public meeting to introduce the plan to the community was attended by nearly 70 interested residents and stakeholders in Palm Beach.
  • Panther biologists have tracked Florida panthers crossing north in a section of the Caloosahatchee River that narrows to about 92 feet across and has relatively gradual banks. It is just a few miles west of the Ortona Lock and Dam.

    Corps recognized for role in making Florida panther corridor a reality

    Panther scientists estimate that there are only 100 to 140 Florida panthers remaining in the wild, and the last remaining breeding population of Florida panthers is in south Florida, south of the Caloosahatchee River.
  • Steve Dunham, chief of the South Florida Operations Office in Clewiston (in white shirt) and park ranger Richard Bailey speak with army instructor Sergeant First Class Brian Lamberton as JROTC volunteers plant Royal Palms along the entrance to the Port Mayaca Lock & Dam.

    Volunteers take pride in accomplishments at Take Pride in America Day

    Like anything worthwhile, Jacksonville District’s observance of Take Pride in America Day took a lot of planning, preparation and hard work. For the Corps employees and volunteers who participated in the May 4 event, the results were well worth the effort again this year. It was a win-win for everyone involved.
  • Adam Morrison (left), Jacksonville District Equal Employment Opportunity Office, visited lock leader Pam Peralta (right) and lock operator Robert Holmes (center) at Moore Haven Lock and Dam on the Okeechobee Waterway.

    Female lock leader honored with Steel de Fleury

    Forty years ago, career choices for women were generally not as diverse as they are today. Pam Peralta never let that stand in her way. Her choices leaned toward the non-traditional and resulted in several historic firsts.
  • On summer afternoons, there is often a ring of clouds around Lake Okeechobee, and sometimes, it looks like the water meets the sky as the horizon on the big lake seems to disappear.

    National Trails Day

    In addition to the trails at St. Lucie Lock and Dam, visitors can enjoy walking, hiking, rollerblading, bicycling and horseback riding around Lake Okeechobee. Designated as part of the Florida National Scenic Trail in 1993, the Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail (LOST) is an approximately 110-mile trail encircling the lake. More than half of the trail is paved, and the remainder consists of a two-track gravel roadway on top of the 35-foot high Herbert Hoover Dike.
  • An aerial view of the Culvert 11 site shows the ongoing work to replace more than 30 water control structures around Lake Okeechobee, providing continued stability for Herbert Hoover Dike.

    HHD named Project of the Year

    The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Palm Beach Branch has given its Outstanding Project of the Year Award to Jacksonville District, for its work in designing and constructing the improvements to reduce the risk of failure at the dike. The award is presented annually by the organization to recognize the best example of an innovative or outstanding design/construction project in Palm Beach County.

  • May

    A current view of the filter marsh, in which invasive vegetation has been removed. A new weir structure will be constructed, where flows will outfall into an existing slough system that discharges into the east branch of Coral Creek. Wood Storks and Roseate Spoonbills have already been observed feeding in the marsh as it was pumped down.

    Restoration project may serve as regional prototype

    Nationwide Permit (NWP) 27 specifically authorizes aquatic habitat restoration, establishment and enhancement activities, and it was this general permit, issued by Linda Elligott, project manager in the Fort Myers Regulatory Office, that authorized a unique hydrologic and habitat restoration project in Charlotte County.
  • After the initial clearing, Melaleuca mulch, similar to what is shown in the photo, was left behind, which suppressed the regrowth of sawgrass and beakrush. Waiting for the decay of the mulch and subsequent regrowth would have delayed achievement of the success criteria by approximately 10 years, much longer than the permit allowed. The enforcement case compelled Century to go back to the site and remove the mulch and conduct supplemental plantings in the buffer areas in order to jumpstart the mitigation area so that it met its success criteria within five years.

    Violation of consent decree in Century Homebuilders Clean Water Act case settled

    A 2006 Clean Water Act violation case against Century Homebuilders has been closed with the receipt of payment of $400,000 in civil penalties plus the purchase of $60,000 in mitigation credits from Everglades National Park.
  • The Michael Allen Schultz Endowed Scholarship fund, established by Susan Schultz in memory of her husband, Mike, benefits deserving undergraduate engineering students enrolled at Iowa State University. The first scholarship was awarded this spring, and two more are planned for fall.

    One man’s legacy lives on through scholarship fund

    The Michael Allen Schultz Endowed Scholarship fund was created in 2012 by Schultz’s wife, Susan, in honor of her husband. The fund assists deserving undergraduate, civil, environmental, agricultural or biological systems engineering students enrolled at Iowa State University.
  • The result of successful stream restoration at a different site.

    Areawide Environmental Impact Statement addressing phosphate mining in Central Florida Phosphate District completed

    The final Areawide Environmental Impact Statement (AEIS) addressing phosphate mining in the Central Florida Phosphate District (CFPD) has been completed and released and a Notice of Availability is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register May 3.
  • Water Conservation Area #3 near the Tamiami Trail in late April. How to handle this water during extreme wet weather events was the topic of a meeting held with multiple state and federal agencies in preparation for the upcoming wet season.

    Water managers prepare for wet season

    A different challenge facing water managers this year surrounds Lake Okeechobee and a higher water level this year, when compared to the previous two years. On April 23, the lake level was 13.59 feet, more than two feet higher than it was on the same date in 2011 and 2012. The lake has stayed within the Corps’ preferred range of 12.5 and 15.5 feet all winter. As a result, the district has been able to provide regular discharges of water to meet a wide variety of needs, including releases to the Caloosahatchee Estuary to keep the saltwater-freshwater mix in an acceptable range.