Portland District , U . S . Army Corps of Engineers The Portland District is one of the five districts within the Northwestern Division of the United States Army Corps of Engineers . The Portland District is made up of some 1 , 100 civilian and 6 military personnel . For almost 140 years , the people of the U . S . Army Corps of Engineers ' Portland District have played an important role in the region . In the past , District engineers constructed coastal fortifications , cleared river channels and surveyed the frontier . Future efforts will focus on resource management and a growing role in environmental protection . Portland District has responded to the needs and concerns of the people of this region for more than six generations , and will continue to do so . History ( 1871 – present ) . Opening the frontier . The Corps ' role after the Revolutionary War was to survey and build roads , railways and bridges , to improve navigation on the nation ' s waterway s , and to map the vast , unexplored wilderness that was this nation . But the Corps ' Portland District office traces its beginnings to 17 April 1871 , when Maj . Henry M . Robert stepped off the steamship Oriflamme onto Portland ' s bustling waterfront . Robert was there to open the Corps ' Portland Engineers Office — the forerunner of Portland District . He rented a single room in the Portland First National Bank Building as office space ; installed one desk , one paper case , one map case , and four office chairs ; then hired a clerk for $ 150 a month . The goals of the local office were loftier than the actual facility : to eliminate impediments to navigation in the region ' s rivers and to obtain a precise knowledge of the territory . The region ' s network of waterways provided the means to export wheat and mining rushes , to import supplies , and to transport passengers . But boats had to be portaged around Cascade Rapids and Celilo Falls with mule - powered tramways . Drifting sandbars caused vessels to run aground and sometimes sink . Snags and debris in the rivers were constant dangers to shipping and coastal harbors were far from safe . The Corps ' first river and harbor work in Oregon was in response to a petition to Congress from Portland city officials ' for help dredging the river bars that impeded shipping . During the next three decades , Corps engineers surveyed local rivers and rapids , and provided dredging , snagging , rock removal and bank protection . Jetty construction provided safe water at Coos Bay , Yaquina Bay , and the mouths of the Columbia , Siuslaw , Coquille and Nehalem rivers . In 1902 , construction was begun on a canal at the four waterfalls between The Dalles and Celilo – the sole remaining block to open river navigation for the upriver from the mouth of the Columbia to the current site of the Priest Rapids Dam . Growth and large - scale resource planning . Fishing on the Columbia was big business by 1906 - - fish wheels alone were harvesting one million pounds of fish annually . As early as 1888 , the Corps reported concerns about reductions in the numbers of fish and recommended establishing fish hatcheries and regulating salmon fishing . In 1918 , the - wide , - deep navigation channel from Portland to the ocean was completed . Ocean - going cargo more than tripled in the next ten years . After disastrous floods affected wide areas of the U . S . in the 1920s , the federal government was directed to help with problems that affected the public interest when they were too large or too complex to be handled by states or localities . Corps ' expertise in navigation projects led to related missions : flood damage reduction , shore and hurricane protection , hydropower , water supply and quality , recreation and environmental protection . Congress authorized the first big multiple - purpose project on the Columbia in 1933 . Bonneville Dam construction generated thousands of needed jobs and a new era of prosperity for upstream ports , offsetting the impact of the Great Depression . It also covered the dangerous Cascade Rapids , provided fish ladders to protect the region ' s fish , and generated electricity for local homes and industry . World War II gave Portland District a share of the military construction program — building training camps , air bases and defense installations in the Northwest . Barges hauling war supplies and ammunition through Bonneville Lock were a common sight . Inexpensive power from Bonneville to busy Portland and Vancouver shipyards and aluminum plants helped the war effort . The Flood Control Act of 1936 marked the official beginning of federal commitment to flood prevention . Flood damage reduction emphasis shifted from keeping flood waters in river channels with dikes and levees , to a system of reservoir storage projects which would contain flood waters until they could be safely released . But the Flood of 1948 was unstoppable . Raging waters inundated roads , eroded developed agricultural land , and submerged 650 blocks of downtown Portland . When a dike ruptured near the town of Vanport , the entire community found itself under water . The 20 - day flood took the lives of 39 people and economic losses exceeded $ 100 million . It was the greatest flood disaster in the history of the Columbia River Basin . But since 1948 , new dams and reservoirs have provided additional flood damage reduction . The 1964 – 65 flood ( a 100 - year flood ) would have surged over Portland ' s sea wall and debris would have damaged every bridge crossing the Willamette except the St . Johns if the flood waters had been unregulated by storage . Construction of Corps multiple - purpose projects continued in the 1950s and 60s . When The Dalles Dam opened in 1957 , its navigation lock replaced the small , outmoded Dalles - Celilo Canal . The slackwater pool behind the dam flooded rock obstructions in the old open river channel and made irrigation of the adjacent land more economical . The John Day Dam began operating in 1968 . A second powerhouse was added at Bonneville in 1981 and major rehabilitation of the hydropower facilities at Bonneville , The Dalles and John Day projects were initiated in the 1990s to meet the region ' s demand for clean , abundant , inexpensive electricity . A new navigation lock was opened at Bonneville in 1993 to accommodate increased river traffic . The future : a balancing act . Portland District encompasses nearly of land and water in Oregon and southwestern Washington . The District ' s future is tied to helping to balance the region ' s competing needs for navigation , flood damage reduction , hydropower , fish and wildlife habitat , disaster recovery , irrigation and recreation . Portland District operates navigation locks on the Columbia - Snake Inland Waterway of and maintains over of federal navigation channels and harbors . More than 30 million tons of cargo pass through District ports and locks each year . Flood damage reduction has improved since the days when the Willamette and the Columbia overflowed their banks almost yearly , laying watery waste to whole communities . Although the 1996 flood devastated many areas of Oregon and Washington , it would have been much worse if the Corps hadn ' t been able to store water behind their dams as it poured into the rivers from uncontrolled tributaries . District flood damage reduction projects — a $ 1 . 2 billion investment have already prevented $ 15 . 8 billion in flood damages . With 22 multiple - purpose projects , Portland District produces 60 percent of the region ' s hydropower to meet the growing demands of public and private utilities , cities and industry . District projects also provide opportunities for fishing , boating , swimming , picnicking , and camping . Corps reservoirs supply irrigation for local farmers and supplement municipal and industrial water needs . But as progress claims more land , habitat for fish and wildlife suffers . Portland District regulates work in water and fragile wetland areas along waterways and in wildlife habitat to preserve the environment . The Corps also controls water released from the dams to protect natural habitats during periods of fluctuating flows . The Corps has a standing mission to provide engineering support in response to major disasters , such as the California earthquakes and Hurricane Andrew . When Mount St . Helens erupted in 1980 , the effects on water quality and on the natural recovery of fish , wildlife and plant species were of primary concern in the Corps ' response . After the Exxon Valdez ran aground , District dredges recovered nearly 400 , 000 gallons of oil from the waters of Alaska ' s Prince William Sound . Corps teams also were able to provide expert rehabilitation support to the people of the Philippines after the 1993 eruption of Mount Pinatubo . The Water Resources Development Act of 1986 authorized the Corps to modify its existing projects for environmental improvement . Changes have ranged from the use of dredged material to create nesting sites for waterfowl , to modification of water control structures to improve downstream water quality for fisheries . Portland District environmental efforts range from large wetlands restoration projects like construction of waterfowl impoundment areas at Fern Ridge Lake , to helping save a small plant like the pink sand verbena or a small creature like the western pond turtle . The biggest challenge Portland District faces may well be that of helping fish pass through the dams safely . Since the 1950s , the Corps has spent more than $ 70 million researching ways to protect anadromous ( migratory ) fish in the Columbia - Snake River system . The District has built and funds eight fish hatcheries , and every aspect of upstream and downstream passage is being evaluated . Models of Columbia River projects , like those at the Waterways Experiment Station in Vicksburg , Miss . , are helping the Corps find answers and make changes that will work for fish .