Autumn Leaves in Pittsburgh District
The Conemaugh River flows from the Conemaugh Dam, operated and maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District, on a fall morning in Saltsburg, Pennsylvania, Oct. 17, 2024. The Pittsburgh District manages 16 flood-risk reduction reservoirs to reduce the damage of floods in the region. When a storm hits, multi-purpose flood-control reservoirs built and maintained by the Corps of Engineers retain excess water upstream of the dam. Controlled releases of this excess water prevent or reduce downstream flooding. Without the corps' reservoirs, the Flood of January 1996 would have raised the crest at the Point in Pittsburgh by 9.7 feet, and during the September 2004 flooding from Hurricane Ivan, the crest at the Point of 31.1 feet would have been 7.7 feet higher. As the Headwaters District, Pittsburgh has played a key role in the evolvement of the Corps of Engineers’ flood damage reduction mission. Part of that role is directly related to the region’s history of major floods. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District photo by Michel Sauret)