Colonel Eric R. Swenson assumed command of the St. Paul District July 28, 2022, becoming the district’s 67th commander and district engineer.
Published: 3/11/2025
The St. Paul District is where the “Mighty Mississippi River” starts its long journey through the middle of the United States of America. The district borders follow the edges of four river basins – the Mississippi River, the Red River of the North, the Souris River and the Rainy River – and covers an area of approximately 139,000 square miles. This area includes most of Minnesota, the western half of Wisconsin, the northeastern half of North Dakota and small portions of northeastern South Dakota and northeastern Iowa. The district also shares approximately 500 miles of border with three Canadian provinces.
Published: 3/11/2025
Emergency Operations & Disaster Response
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers executes and delivers vital public emergency services to strengthen our nation’s ability to prepare, respond and recover from natural disasters or other emergencies within the United States and its territories. The Corps may provide technical assistance and, in instances where the nature of the disaster exceeds the capabilities of state, local or Tribal interests, the Corps may provide direct assistance to save human life, prevent immediate human suffering or mitigate property damage.
Published: 3/24/2025
The St. Paul District traces its origins to 1866, when Congress authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to establish a 4-foot navigation channel on the notoriously unreliable Upper Mississippi River. Maj. Gouverneur Kemble Warren, a West Point graduate widely acclaimed for his leadership at the Battle of Gettysburg, was tasked with initiating the new program and conducting preliminary surveys of the main river and its tributaries. Warren arrived in St. Paul, Minnesota, and opened the first district office in August 1866.
Published: 3/24/2025
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers executes and delivers vital public emergency services to strengthen our nation’s ability to prepare, respond and recover from natural disasters or other emergencies within the United States and its territories. Emergency preparedness and response is primarily a local responsibility; however, the Corps of Engineers may provide technical assistance and in instances when the nature of the disaster exceeds the capabilities of a state or Tribal interest, the Corps may provide direct assistance to save human life, prevent immediate human suffering or mitigate property damage.
Published: 3/24/2025
Every year, floods sweep through communities across the United States, taking lives, destroying property, shutting down businesses and causing millions of dollars in damage. The Corps assists communities in building projects that reduce risk from floods while managing a number of reservoirs designed to reduce excess flooding. Additionally, the Corps assists states in reacting to floods when the response required exceeds a state’s capabilities. The St. Paul District has built flood risk management projects in a number of Upper Midwest communities to include Grand Forks, North Dakota; Mankato, Minnesota; Rochester, Minnesota; and St. Paul, Minnesota.
Published: 3/24/2025
Section 14 of the 1946 Flood Control Act, as amended, permits construction of bank protection works to protect endangered highways, highway bridge approaches and other essential, important public works such as municipal water supply systems and sewage disposal plants; churches, hospitals, schools and other nonprofit public services; and known cultural sites that are endangered by flood-caused bank or shoreline erosion. Repair, restoration and/or modification of the eroding streambank is allowed. Procedures followed for Section 14 projects are designed to expedite implementation.
Published: 3/24/2025
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Flood Plain Management Services Program is authorized by Section 206 of the Flood Control Act of the 1960, as amended. Under this program, the Corps is authorized, upon request by other federal, non-federal, local entities or tribes, to provide a full range of technical services and planning guidance on floods and floodplain issues.
Published: 3/24/2025
The Planning Assistance to States and Tribes Program is authorized by Section 22 of the 1974 Water Resources Development Act, as amended in 1990 and 2007. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is authorized to use its technical expertise in water and related land resource management to help states, federally recognized tribes. local government, and other non-federal entities with their water resource problems. Upon written request, the Corps will cooperate with these entities to prepare plans for the development, use, and conservation of water and related land resources within their bounds.
Published: 3/24/2025
Silver Jackets teams are collaborative state-led interagency teams, continuously working together to reduce flood risk at the state level. Through the Silver Jackets program, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; the Federal Emergency Management Agency; and additional federal, state and sometimes local and Tribal agencies provide a unified approach to addressing a state’s priorities.
Published: 3/24/2025
The Tribal Partnership Program (TPP) provides authority for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to utilize TPP to perform water-related planning activities and activities related to the study, design and construction of water resources development projects located primarily on tribal lands that substantially benefit federally recognized tribes.
Published: 4/3/2025
Navigation is travel or transportation over water. Many products we use today are transported by vessels on inland waterways. Towboats push barges loaded with products such as grain, coal and petroleum up and down rivers to loading and unloading facilities. The use of barges as opposed to semis produces around 90% less greenhouse gas emissions.
Published: 3/24/2025
Water Transportation
Roughly 25% of all waterborne commerce in the U.S. and 92% of the nation’s agricultural exports take place on the Mississippi River, the fourth largest river in the world.
Published: 3/24/2025
One of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ critical missions is to strive for environmental sustainability. The St. Paul District recognizes the interdependence of life and the importance of the physical environment and proactively considers environmental consequences of its programs. Our goal is to seek balance and synergy among human development and natural systems by designing economic and environmental-friendly solutions that reinforce one another. Our environmental programs focus on the key areas of ecosystem preservation, restoration and protection.
Published: 4/3/2025
The mission of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s regulatory program is to protect the nation’s aquatic resources, while allowing reasonable development through fair, flexible and balanced permit decisions. The Corps evaluates permit applications for construction activities occurring in the nation’s waters and wetlands. Corps permits are also necessary for any work in the nation’s navigable waters.
Published: 3/24/2025
Following several decades of constitutional squabbles, engineering disputes and regional bickering dating back to the early 1800s, Congress recognized the need to harmonize river improvements through a central organization. On June 28, 1879, the federal legislature, assisted by the efforts of a congressional coalition of navigation and flood-control interests, established the Mississippi River Commission as an executive body.
Published: 3/24/2025
Section 206 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1996 provides authority for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to undertake restoration projects in aquatic ecosystems such as rivers, lakes and wetlands. The Corps evaluates projects that benefit the environment through restoring, improving or protecting aquatic habitat for plants, fish and wildlife.
Published: 3/24/2025
River Restoration Program
The Upper Mississippi River System consists of 1,300 miles of the Upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers and several major tributaries. Prior to 1866, the Upper Mississippi River was largely natural, twisting and turning across the wide river valley with numerous islands, side channels and backwaters. In 1866, the 4-foot channel project was the first of several projects to improve conditions for navigation. The locks and dams were built in the 1930s to maintain a 9-foot shipping channel. For many years, the navigation pools created by the locks and dams supported a wealth of fish, wildlife and aquatic habitat. However, the value of this habitat gradually declined due to erosion and sedimentation. Aquatic plant beds diminished in size, and habitat diversity declined.
Published: 3/24/2025
Habitat Restoration
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has the authority, provided by Section 1135 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1986, as amended, to plan, design and construct fish and wildlife habitat restoration measures. To be eligible for consideration, restoration measures must involve modification of the structures or operations of a project constructed by the Corps of Engineers or modification of an off-project site when it is found that the Corps project has contributed to the degradation of the environment.
Published: 3/24/2025
It is the policy of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, to apply principles of good environmental stewardship to the natural and cultural resources located on Corps administered federal lands.
Published: 3/24/2025
It is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ mission to provide quality, public outdoor recreation experiences to serve the needs of present and future generations while being consistent with ecosystem management principles. As stewards of public lands, the St. Paul District has a special responsibility to assure resource accessibility for today and tomorrow while providing high quality outdoor recreational opportunities for all. The St. Paul District operates 49 recreation areas, ranging from public landings along the Mississippi River to lock and dam visitor centers to full-service campgrounds. These recreation areas are an important component of the region’s tourism industry, and the impact on the local and regional economies is significant. These sites see an average of 2.4 million visitors annual $97 million for the local and regional economy.
Published: 3/11/2025
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the largest federal provider of water-based outdoor recreation in the nation. Our recreation sites provide a diverse range of outdoor activities that promote a healthy lifestyle to millions of people every year. We are committed to providing a safe, fun and secure experience for all of our visitors.
Published: 3/12/2025
It is the policy of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, to support and contribute toward the efforts of state and other federal agencies to impede the movement of invasive species by the transport of firewood.
Published: 3/11/2025
Maintaining the region’s water resources for maximum economic and environmental benefit is a full-time endeavor for the St. Paul District. Congress mandates the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintain a 9-foot navigation channel on the Mississippi River and manage water levels at each of its projects on a daily basis.
Published: 3/11/2025
Historical Background
Improving navigation on the Mississippi River began as early as 1824. In 1878, the U.S. Congress authorized the first comprehensive project on the upper river: a 4 1/2-foot channel. This was followed by authorizations for a 6-foot channel in 1907 and the current 9-foot channel in 1928. To achieve the 9-foot channel in the Upper Mississippi River, the construction of a system of navigation locks and dams was authorized in 1930 and expanded in 1932, 1935, 1937, 1945 and 1958.
Published: 3/11/2025
Cubic Feet per Second
This is a common unit of flow measurement based on the number of cubic feet (1 ft tall X 1 ft wide X 1 ft deep) of water passing by a point in a second. It is abbreviated cfs. A flow rate of one cfs is equivalent to 449 gallons per minute.
Published: 3/11/2025
Levees are man-made barriers along a water course constructed for the primary purpose of excluding flood waters from a portion of the floodplain (referred to as a “leveed area”) from a range of flood events. They provide tremendous benefits to communities, but with those benefits come risks. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Levee Safety Program works to better understand, manage and reduce the flood risks associated with levees.
Published: 3/11/2025
It is the policy of the United States government to provide maximum practicable contracting opportunities to small business. To that end, the St. Paul District’s small business program manager provides advice and guidance to the Corps’ acquisition community and the small business community for all acquisitions valued at more than $10,000.
Published: 3/11/2025
The Fountain City Service Base, located in Fountain City, Wisconsin, plays an essential role in supporting St. Paul District’s effort to maintain navigation on the Upper Mississippi River north of Guttenberg, Iowa. The Corps has used this facility for the construction, repair and maintenance of vessels and equipment used for river improvement projects for more than a century.
Published: 3/24/2025
The St. Paul District’s dredge fleet is made up of three vessels to include the Dredge William L. Goetz, the Motor Vessel General Warren and the Quarters Boat Harold E. Taggatz. This fleet is used to assist in maintaining 850 miles of the Upper Mississippi River, 335 miles of the Illinois River and other inland rivers and typically is used to dredge 1 to 2 million cubic yards of sediment out of the 9-foot navigation channel each year. The fleet is based out of the district’s service base in Fountain City, Wisconsin.
Published: 3/24/2025
Sedimentation in the harbors is caused by the normal cycle of silt movement, erosion from high water or heavy rains and changes in river currents. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is authorized by various pieces of legislation to dredge a number of harbors within its boundaries. Funding is occasionally provided to the Corps’ Civil Works Operations and Management Appropriation to do this.
Published: 3/24/2025
The Minnesota and North Dakota Flood Control Section staff is responsible for managing separately budgeted, multi-purpose water resource projects on four major river basins in eastern and north central North Dakota and western Minnesota. Resources managed include 16 dams and associated water management structures with an annual budget of approximately $4 million and 20 full-time and seasonal employees. The breakout between the sections is described below.
Published: 3/12/2025
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers provides quality, public outdoor recreation experiences to serve the needs of present and future generations while being consistent with ecosystem management principles. In the St. Paul District, the Mississippi River Recreation office is responsible for the management of public resources located on Corps-fee lands along approximately 243 river miles within the Upper Mississippi River 9-Foot Navigation Channel Project from Minneapolis to Guttenberg, Iowa. The Eau Galle Lake Dam and Recreation Area is also part of the Mississippi River Recreation Section and serves as a flood control project with recreational opportunities and environmental stewardship in Spring Valley, Wisconsin.
Published: 3/24/2025
The Headwaters Lakes Project, located in north central Minnesota, consists of six dams which control a watershed area covering 4,535 square miles. Originally authorized for the purpose of navigation, the Headwaters Project is now considered a multi-purpose project that includes flood risk reduction, recreation, water supply, fish and wildlife management, tribal trust, wild rice production and environmental stewardship. In addition to the Headwaters Lakes Project, the staff also manages Red Lake Dam, which controls the water level on Red Lake and has a watershed that encompasses approximately 6,000 square miles.
Published: 3/12/2025