USACE and Nature Conservancy to improve US river basins

The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has signed an agreement with the Nature Conservancy to improve the health of the large working rivers nationally and globally.

The agreement will see an increasing collaboration across the Mississippi River Basin and other rivers in the US, under the Great Rivers Partnership and expanding recovery efforts along the Gulf Coast.

It will focus on managing large, working rivers with a whole-basin approach, which will involve management, development and conservation of water, land and related resources within a given river basin.

Jo-Ellen Darcy, Army of Civil Works assistant secretary, said the watershed approaches to the management of the rivers will help to maintain and improve the benefits of these river systems, such as improving flood risk management, hydropower, navigation, recreation, and wildlife habitat.