Posted on February 2, 2026
SOUTH EL MONTE, Calif. — Senior leaders in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gathered in the Los Angeles District the week of Jan. 26 to strategize on the future of the corps as it plans to kick off a productive year with new challenges.
The week included governance meetings at the South El Monte Baseyard and tours of LA district project sites.
In tandem meetings, senior executive staff and leaders of the corps met in the Baseyard conference room over the week while others toured ongoing projects for the Los Angeles District to get a firsthand look at the work being accomplished at the Whittier Narrows, Sepulveda and Prado dams as well as the Port of Long Beach and the Santa Ana River Salt Marsh. The Whittier Narrows and Sepulveda dams are considered unique in the corps’ dam portfolio due to their proximity near dense, urban land and contain properties leased for use in the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games. Overall, these projects play a crucial role in flood risk mitigation and water conservation within the Los Angeles County Drainage Area.
“There’s more visibility on our high priority projects and with that, hopefully, more support,” said Lt. Col. Tim Wu, South Pacific Division deputy commander, speaking on recent coverage of USACE projects in the Los Angeles District.
One of the challenges the corps faces this year is managing a leaner workforce dedicated towards its global portfolio of infrastructure projects. For the Los Angeles District, dam modification projects, such as the Whittier Narrows Dam Safety Modification Project, are slated to begin construction this year. The project will bolster the dam’s structure and prepare it for rare, severe storms. The governance meeting and site tours carried the motif of improving efficiency and expedience on deliverables to build and maintain the infrastructure that keeps communities safe.
“At this level, this is what you do,” said Brig. Gen. John P. Lloyd, USACE South Pacific Division commander and division engineer. “You take on tough things, solve problems, provide solutions to the team that is out there on the ground every day trying to deliver a very large program for this division.”
Other accomplishments the corps hopes to maintain are the homeless encampment debris removal missions that took place in the Sepulveda and Whittier Narrows recreational areas. From the Whittier Narrows basin alone, more than 22,000 cubic yards of debris have been cleared in collaboration with Los Angeles County. Debris included hazardous materials and other items that created unsafe working conditions for contractors operating on corps managed lands. The cleanup began in October of last year as a result of expedited contracting.
Outside of Los Angeles, the LA District is involved in dredging projects across the Southern Californian coastline. The most recent dredging work performed by the district has been in the Channel Islands Harbor in collaboration with municipal partners in Ventura County, restoring 1,450,000 cubic yards of shoreline around Hueneme Beach for fortification against coastal storms and maintaining safe vessel passage in the area. The next dredging project under the district is anticipated to begin in March around the Oceanside Harbor with an available estimated volume of around 400,000 cubic yards.
To learn more about projects the USACE Los Angeles District will be working on this year, visit go.mil/3hpu3itidi.
