This paper, just released by the U. S. Army USACE of Engineers (USACE) Institute for Water Resources (IWR), is a digest and critical review of a recently published report of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) on the Americas (referred to here as the “Americas report”). It is one of four world regional reports that collectively update the U. N. sponsored “Millennium Ecosystem Assessment” of 2005, and its primary goal is to inform policy and decision-making at the highest levels. The Americas report covers the status of biodiversity, ecosystem services and other contributions of nature to human wellbeing. This also includes threats and policy issues in four sub regions. The material in the Americas report is relevant to all missions of the USACE, especially the environmental and restoration missions, and is particularly significant because it is an update of the widely referenced 2005 U. N. sponsored “Millennium Ecosystem Assessment” report. As well, the Americas report introduces potentially influential changes in terminology and concepts, and compiles information of potential use in decision-making at the highest levels of government.

The US Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) Institute for Water Resources published "Estimating USACE Capital Stock, 1928 to 2016" on the estimated value of water resources infrastructure built by USACE between 1928 and 2016. This includes capital such as dams, levees, harbors and waterway improvements, locks, channels, hydroelectric generating works, and recreation facilities. Each provide an annual stream of benefits to the Nation in the form of transportation costs savings, flood damages prevented, electric power production, water supply storage, recreation, and ecosystem restoration that contribute to national economic prosperity; global competitiveness; and the health, safety, and quality of life of our citizens.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Institute for Water Resources (IWR) published “Hawaiian Islands Regional Assessment National Shoreline Management Study” report. This report provides an assessment of the effects of erosion and accretion upon socio-economics and the environment, and what management actions are being taken or are needed to maintain resilient shorelines. The National Shoreline Management Study The Congressionally authorized National Shoreline Management Study (NSMS) is the first undertaking in nearly a half century to document the physical, economic, environmental, and social impacts of shoreline change across each region of the U.S. The NSMS provides government policymakers, coastal engineers and scientists, and stakeholders with information about the coastal regions most in need of resilience planning.

ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Institute for Water Resources (IWR) recently released its “California Regional Assessment National Shoreline Management Study” report. This report provides an assessment of the effects of erosion and accretion upon socio-economics and the environment, and what management actions are being taken or are needed to maintain resilient shorelines. The National Shoreline Management Study The Congressionally authorized National Shoreline Management Study (NSMS) is the first undertaking in nearly a half century to document the physical, economic, environmental, and social impacts of shoreline change across each region of the U.S. The NSMS provides government policymakers, coastal engineers and scientists, and stakeholders with information about the coastal regions most in need of resilience planning.

ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA. The US Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) Institute for Water Resources, in conjunction with its Rock Island District, recently released a report entitled Cedar Rapids Flood Risk Management: A Case Study in Disaster Recovery. The report provides an overview and details of post-flood recovery actions in Cedar Rapids, Iowa following devastating flooding of the Cedar River in June 2008. It also includes observations and lessons regarding U.S. flood risk management drawn from the city’s recovery efforts.

ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Institute for Water Resources just released a new report, Advances in Conservation Ecology: Paradigm Shifts of Consequence for USACE Environmental Planning, Management and Conservation Cooperation. This report presents a digest of information on recent advances in ecological science and management for USACE ecologists and eco-managers. Advances in conservation ecology are changing the way federal agencies in the United States plan, manage and cooperate to achieve their missions. These advances have contributed to major changes in the widely accepted working concepts—or paradigms—that underlie widely held assumptions of ecological management. Many of these paradigm shifts occurred since USACE environmental policy and technical guidance was written and are unevenly understood among ecological managers (eco-managers).

ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA. Civil and Mechanical Engineering Cadets from the U.S. Military Academy (West Point) gathered at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Headquarters on July 30 as part of a larger five-day program across the east coast to expose them to the USACE mission. The Institute for Water Resources (IWR) was invited to participate in the Washington D.C. morning session to cover subjects in U.S. Water Resources Development, USACE Planning Activities, and Public Participation and Collaboration.