Rock Island District / Media / News Stories
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Author: Corporate Communications
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  • July

    Special Flood Edition Tower Times

    Top headlines in this Special Edition issue:    A tale of two extremes - Col. Mark Deschenes,

  • April

    Flood 2013 Graphic

    Why doesn’t the Corps of Engineers raise the gates on the Mississippi River dams to reduce the pool levels (lower the river) now before the snow melt and spring rains to reduce the amount of flooding?

    ANSWER: There are many reasons why this idea is not practical. The first, and foremost reason is that although they appear to be large flood control structures like a reservoir, locks and dams do not store water; they cannot prevent or cause flooding and they have no flood control capabilities. If the Mississippi River dams could control flooding, that is, hold back or store water, the pool created behind the dam would be so enormous that it would flood many communities.

  • October

    Corps lakes providing water supply and water quality releases due to drought

    (Oct. 9, 2012) The Rock Island District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is currently operating its three Iowa reservoirs for drought conditions. With significantly decreased inflows, Saylorville Lake at Des Moines, Iowa; Lake Red Rock at Knoxville, Iowa; and Coralville Lake at Iowa City, Iowa; continue to release water to provide water supply and water quality for communities and utility needs downstream of the reservoirs.

  • September

    District contributes to "Feds Feed Families"

    The Rock Island District participated in the 2012 "Feds Feed Families" food drive in August. The Rock Island Arsenal and Soldiers from the U.S. Army Sustainment Command distributed collection cans, picked-up the donations and in total delivered more than 3,000 pounds of food to the River Bend Foodbank in Moline, Ill.

  • Floodwall Under Construction

    A source of water for nearly 131,000 people will soon be protected from flood waters. Construction of the Davenport Flood Risk Management Project, Reach 1 was awarded to Valley Construction with work starting in November 2011. The project is anticipated to be complete by November 2013.
  • Camping at Cherry Glen Recreation area at Saylorville Lake.

    Master Plan updates underway

    (September 2012) An effort is underway to update the Corps Master Plans for Saylorville Lake and Lake Red Rock, two of the Districts flood risk management reservoirs. The current plans were completed in 1984 and 1976 respectively, serving as guides for recreational and environmental stewardship decisions. Many things have since changed including land use changes within the watershed and on project lands, adjacent community growth and development, as well as an increasing demand for recreational opportunities.

  • District contributes to "Feds Feed Families"

    The Rock Island District participated in the 2012 "Feds Feed Families" food drive in August. The Rock Island Arsenal and Soldiers from the U.S. Army Sustainment Command distributed collection cans, picked-up the donations and in total delivered more than 3,000 pounds of food to the River Bend Foodbank in Moline, Ill.
  • Locks and Dam 15 on the Mississippi River at Rock Island, IL were built to allow for navigation on the Upper Mississippi River.

    Why do we have locks and dams?

    The Mississippi has long been used for transportation; however, navigation has been forced to accommodate its whims; deep-flowing but turbulent in times of flooding; placid but shallow to the point of non-navigability in times of drought. Other obstacles included swift and treacherous rapids, submerged rocks and boulders and uncharted sand bars and tree snags, which ended the life of many steamers in the nineteenth century.

  • August

    New display added to Mississippi River Visitor Center

    Fish now adorn the walls of the Mississippi River Visitor Center located on Rock Island Arsenal in Rock Island, Ill., near Locks and Dam 15.