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" ,#ih. ~.v:~<::-Ji q;::g~:$; CORPS MISSIONS like all o1her agencies, the u.s. Army Corps of Engineers is assigned some specific missions. For the Corps, the missions include navigation, flood control, environmental, hurricane and storm damage reduction, coastal and shoreline erosion, water supply, hydroelectric power, outdoor recreation, wetlands conservation, water quality control and aquatic plant control. " The following is an overview of the types of wa~r resource problems and opportunities that the Corps can assist sponsors and other interested parties in addressing. It also describes the Corps programs that are available for help. NAVIGATION Rivers and waterways were the primary paths of commerce in the new country. They provided, routes , from western farms to eastern markets. They promised a new life to the seaboard immigrant and tinancial reward for the Mississippi Valley merchant. Consequently, western politicians such as Henry Clay agitated for Federal assistance to make riverS more navigable. At the same time the War of 1812 showed the imporlance of a reliable inland navigation system to national defense. Thus, both commercial development and military needs required attention to river and harbor development., -, ~~~~~~~~) The system ofharbors and waterways developed and maintained by the Corps of Engineers remains one of the most imporlant parts of the Nation's transporlation system. Without constant supervision, rivers and other waterways collect soil debris and other obstacles, which lead to groundings and wrecks. New, channels and cutoffs appear frequently, and the main traffic lanes require continual surveillance. Where authorized to do so, the Corps maintains the Nation's waterways as a reliable and economically efficient navigation system. Inland waterways carry one sixth of the Nation's intercity cargo, and one job in . ,five in the United States is dependent, to some extent, on the COmmerce handled by the Nalion's ports. FLOOD CONTROL AND FLOOD PLAIN MANAGEMENT Federal interest in flood control began in the alluvial valley of the Mississippi River in the 19th Century. As the relationship of flood control and navigation became apparent, Congress called on the ,Corps of Engineers to use its expertise in navigational work to devise solutions to flooding problems. After a series of disastrous floods affecting wide areas and transporlation systems in the 1920' s and 30' s, itwas recognized that the Federal Government should participate in the solution of problems affecting the public interest when they are 100 large or complex to be handled by States or localities. As a result, Corps' authority for flood control work was extended in 1935 to embrace the entire country. Flood control objectives are accomplished with structural measures, such as reservoirs, levees, channels and floodwa11s, or IlOnstructural measures which alter the way people would otherwise occupy or use 9 :1: ;,