A tow goes through Louisville District’s McAlpine Locks and Dam 1,200-foot north chamber on the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky, Dec. 11, 2020.
PHOTO BY JOSH SAYLOR
The Navigation and Civil Works Decision Support Center (NDC), also in Alexandria, provides expertise in the management and availability of infrastructure use and performance information for USACE programs and projects across civil works business lines. The NDC directly supports the USACE navigation, hydropower, recreation, environmental compliance, water supply, regulatory, homeland security, emergency, and readiness functions. The NDC also provides integrated business information in support of USACE operational decision-making through management of Civil Works Business Intelligence (CWBI). This strategic initiative provides an integration for the management and tracking of infrastructure and USACE program execution through geospatially enabled data, coupled with decision support systems. This is an important tool in the development and defense of the USACE Civil Works program budget. The Waterborne Commerce Statistics Center (WCSC) in New Orleans, Louisiana, specializes in the collection and synthesis of U.S. inland, intercoastal, and port waterborne commerce data. Statistics developed from this data, including vessel movement, vessel characteristics, port facilities, dredging costs, and performance data and information on navigation locks, provides essential budget-development information and data for effective monitoring system and infrastructure performance. Also located in Alexandria, Virginia, the International Center for Integrated Water Resources Management (ICIWaRM) was established in collaboration with multiple U.S. agencies, academic institutions, and organizations sharing an interest in the advancement of the science and practice of integrated water resources management (IWRM). ICIWaRM was formalized as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Category 2 water center in 2009, the first such center in the United States. ICIWaRM serves as a nexus for technology transfer, integrating new ideas and advancing practical scientific and technological applications of IWRM, approaches developed both in the United States and by partner nations within UNESCO’s Division of Water Sciences. The center focuses on water security, adaptating to changing conditions, applying collaborative approaches, and promoting environmental sustainability, and provides visibility for USACE capabilities consistent with the “U.S. Government Global Water Strategy 2017.” ICIWaRM is also the technical secretariat for UNESCO’s Global Network on Water and Development Information for Arid Lands. n IWR Director Joe D. Manous Jr., P.E., Ph.D., D.WRE.
IWR PHOTO
risk competencies and helps ensure consistency of risk assessment processes on appropriate application of risk criteria, all for the purpose of providing increased resiliency and more effective decision-making on dam and levee safety projects. The mission of the Conflict Resolution and Public Participation Center of Expertise (CPCX) in Alexandria, Virginia, is to help USACE field practitioners anticipate, prevent, and manage water conflicts, ensuring that the interest of the public is addressed in water resources decision-making. The CPCX provides technical assistance and training to USACE division and district offices and stakeholders on collaborative processes, facilitation, public involvement, risk communication, and collaborative modeling (Shared Vision Planning). CPCX also supports USACE Headquarters on national initiatives and policy development and coordinates USACE’s cross-cutting Collaboration and Public Participation Community of Practice. The Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC) in Davis, California, is world renowned for its applied software model development, training, and consulting in hydrologic and hydraulic engineering, water resources planning, and water systems management. The mission of HEC is to support the nation in water resources management by enhancing USACE technical capacity in applied hydraulic and hydrologic engineering. Additional mission goals include providing technical leadership in improving the analytical methods for the hydrologic aspects of water resources planning and the delivery of the integrated suite of models serving as the Corps Water Management System (CWMS), which is used by divisions and districts in the real-time operation of reservoirs throughout the country. HEC models represent state-of-the-art tools that are widely used throughout the world.
Institute for Water Resources 7701 Telegraph Rd., Casey Bldg. Alexandria, VA 22315-3868 (703) 428-9090 www.iwr.usace.army.mil 145
