Corps of Engineers begins snow surveys in preparation for spring melt

ST. PAUL, Minn. – A survey team with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, will begin collecting snow surveys throughout Minnesota March 3 – 7. 

The surveys are taken annually to assist the Corps’ water management team in determining how much water is contained within the snowpack. This information is shared with other agencies such as the National Weather Service and the U.S. Geological Survey. 

The team will begin in Minneapolis and make a counterclockwise trip around the state. Corps of Engineers park rangers will be taking snow surveys in the Mississippi River Headwaters region. 

The process for collecting snow surveys involves going to a predetermined location and gathering snow through a tube. The snow is then measured for its weight, and the water content is determined by converting the weight with mathematical formula.

The nearly 650 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, employees working at more than 40 sites in five upper-Midwest states serve the American public in the areas of environmental enhancement, navigation, flood damage reduction, water and wetlands regulation, recreation sites and disaster response. Through the Corps’ Fiscal Year 2011 $175 million budget, nearly 2,800 non-Corps jobs were added to the regional economy as well as $271 million to the national economy. For more information, see www.mvp.usace.army.mil.

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