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1 GAO-25-107449 U. S. Army Corps of Engineers
December 12, 2024
The Honorable Thomas R. Carper
Chairman
The Honorable Shelley Moore Capito
Ranking Member
Committee on Environment and Public Works
United States Senate
The Honorable Sam Graves
Chairman
The Honorable Rick Larsen
Ranking Member
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
House of Representatives
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Actions Taken to Develop Water Resources Research
Prototypes
Located within the Department of Defense, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) has both
military and civilian responsibilities. In fiscal year 2023, the Corps’ Engineer Research &
Development Center had a total obligational authority of over $2.4 billion for research and
development activities, primarily for warfighter support programs.
1
The Water Resources
Development Act of 2022 (Act) granted the Corps authority to use agreements known as “other
transactions” to carry out prototype projects and follow-on production contracts or transactions
to support the basic, applied, and advanced research activities of its civilian Civil Works
mission.
2
These prototype efforts can aid the Corps’ management of water resources
infrastructure including dams, levees, hurricane barriers, floodgates, and other hydraulic
structures across the U.S.
The Act also includes a provision for GAO to annually report on the Corps’ use of its other
transaction authority for its Civil Works program.
3
In November 2023, we issued our first report
1
The Corps has both a military and a Civil Works program. The military program provides, among other things,
engineering and construction services to U.S. government agencies and foreign governments. The Civil Works
program is responsible for investigating, developing, and maintaining water resources development projects.
2
Water Resources Development Act of 2022, Pub. L. No. 117-263, § 8160(a), 136 Stat. 2395, 3741-44 (codified at 33
U.S.C. § 2313(c)).
3
33 U.S.C. § 2313(c)(7)(E).
