Feasibility Cost Sharing Agreements (FCSAs), Project Partnership Agreements (PPAs), Memorandum of Agreement (MOA)s, Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs), Model Agreements, Local Cooperation Agreements (LCA) and more.

Explanations, guidance, and links to the resources that determine the Corps of Engineer’s annual budget (the funding levels and distribution of funding proposed by the President in the Administration’s Budget) and appropriations (the funding levels and distribution of funding passed by the Congress and signed by the President each fiscal year).

With decision makers at all levels of the Corps – including: the District, Division (MSC), USACE Headquarters, and Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) – it is the intent to "power down" planning decisions, approvals, and actions to the most appropriate levels of the organization.

Links and information on the tools planners use to support risk-informed decision making: Risk Registers, Decision Logs, Decision Management Plans, and more.

This page provides reports, technical papers, and other documentation for use in conjunction with USACE Planning models.

This page provides resources and links to different models that can be used on a variety of water resources projects.

USACE and the Department of the Army make available many tools to assist in planners day-to-day work.

Links and information to tools and best practices in report writing.

Useful templates and checklists for feasibility studies.

This page provides a list of USACE and other federal agency vetted apps, tools, and software for use by project delivery teams and others, including planning data sets and mapping tools.

Collection of tools and techniques useful for PDTs working to incorporate social science considerations into projects and studies.

Webinars

2023
• Planning Fundamentals: Comprehensive Documentation of Benefits - Guidance, Requirements, and New Tools (28 September)
  
  This webinar is part of the Planning Fundamentals Series and provided an overview of the guidance and requirements associated with the comprehensive documentation of benefits in decision documents. Presenters Jeff Strahan (Economics Team Lead, HQUSACE Office of Water Project Review); Tim Fleeger (Policy and Environmental Coordinator, Northwestern Division); Max Millstein (Senior Economist, South Atlantic Division); Susan Durden (Economist, Institute for Water Resources); and Janet Cote (Project Manager, New England District) introduced new tools to aid study teams in the selection of metrics and analysis for different Civil Works mission areas, including Comprehensive Benefit Evaluation and Scoping Tool (C-BEST), IWR’s suite of Quick Look Tools, and examples of the Table of Effects to display the performance of alternatives against a variety of fields. Presenters also discussed a case study to highlight a practical application of comprehensive benefits.
• National Shoreline Management Study National Assessment (21 September)
  
  This webinar featured a preliminary look at the National Shoreline Management Study (NSMS) National Assessment Report and companion Summary. This National Assessment highlights the economic, social, and environmental importance of the nation’s shorelines, and the changes that result from natural and human-induced influences on coastal processes. It has been developed based on existing and available information and input from a variety of federal agencies, Tribal Nations, representative groups, national coastal interests, state and regional representatives, and researchers. Presenters Marriah Abellera (Institute for Water Resources Coastal Program Manager) and Dr. Denise Reed (Research Professor Gratis at the University of New Orleans Pontchartrain Institute for Environmental Sciences) provided background on the NSMS Program and a detailed overview of the National Assessment Report.
• National Structure Inventory (26 January)
  
  This webinar provided an overview of the National Structure Inventory (NSI) and its potential application in supporting flood risk management studies. The 2022 version of the NSI uses a variety of new data inputs in order to obtain improved nationwide estimates of structure locations, structure characteristics, and population at risk estimates. This data is often necessary for economic and life safety studies, but the NSI may also be useful for other planning efforts. Presenters Nick Lutz (Economist, HEC) and Alex Ryan (Economist, PCX-IN) covered ways to use the NSI, its limitations, and methods to improve the NSI for planning efforts through the newly developed NSI Survey Tool.
  
  2022
• Feasibility Study Templates, Checklists & SOPs (1 September)
  
  This webinar provided an overview of a number of new and updated templates for Chief's Reports and Director's Reports, Review Manager and Vertical Team Roles and Responsibilities guides, and Study Issue checklists. Jeff Lin, Plan Formulation Team Lead (HQUSACE Office of Water Project Review) discussed the purpose and intent of each of the new templates, guides, and checklists.
• Coastal Texas StratCom (7 April)
  
  This webinar provided an overview of the Strategic Communications Plan for the Coastal Texas study – USACE’s largest Civil Works study ever undertaken. In just under 6 years, the project delivery team produced a $29B recommended plan that promises to deliver a resilient Texas coast using a combination of ecosystem restoration and coastal storm risk management features that function as a system to reduce the risk of coastal storm damages to natural and man-made infrastructure and to restore degraded coastal ecosystems. Focused on redundancy and robustness, the proposed system of improvements increases the resiliency of the Texas coast and is adaptable to future conditions. To reach communities locked-down during the Covid crisis, the team innovated strategic communications, deploying a combination of virtual technologies to engage the public and assure transparency across the local, regional, and national landscape. Dr. Kelly Burks-Copes (PM, Galveston District) reviewed the Strategic Communications Plan for the study and walked through the various tools and techniques utilized to assure public outreach used both during the study phase and planned for the next phases of the project.
  
  2021
• The Power of ERDC (4 November)
  
  This webinar highlighted the capabilities of the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) and the role of the recently stood up group of “ERDC Liaisons.” As one of the most diverse engineering and scientific research organizations in the world, ERDC conducts research and development in support of military installations and the USACE Civil Works mission, as well as for other federal agencies, state and municipal authorities, and with U.S. industries through innovative work agreements. Presenter Michael Winkler (ERDC Strategic Integration Officer) provided an overview of ERDC capabilities related to Planning and described the role of the new ERDC Liaisons, who have been assigned to all MSCs and Districts as part of the Chief of Engineer’s intent to elevate the Corps’ research and development programs, and to promote ERDC involvement earlier in the project development process.
  
  2019
• USACE and Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Technology (6 June)
  
  This webinar provided background information on Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) technology, and applications of UAS in the Corps as a force multiplier for various mission sets. The webinar was presented by Mr. Victor Wilhelm, UAS Program Manager at the Jacksonville District. Mr. Wilhelm also discussed USACE efforts to reorganize its UAS formations into an Enterprise Aviation Program and associated regulation challenges.