The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is an agency within the Department of Defense with both military and civil works responsibilities. For USACE's civil works mission, Congress directs the agency's water resource activities through authorizations legislation and appropriations. The agency's central civil works responsibilities are to support navigation, reduce riverine flood and coastal storm damage, and protect and restore aquatic ecosystems. USACE attracts congressional attention because its projects can have significant local and regional economic benefits and environmental effects. Unlike with federal funding for highways and municipal water infrastructure, the majority of federal funds provided to USACE are not distributed by formula to states or through competitive grant programs. Instead, USACE is directly engaged in the planning and construction of projects; the majority of its appropriations are used performing work on specific studies and projects authorized by Congress. USACE operates more than 700 dams; has built 14,500 miles of levees; and improves and maintains more than 900 coastal, Great Lakes, and inland harbors, as well as 13,000 miles of deep-draft channels and 12,000 miles of inland waterways.
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