House & Senate Introduce Permanent Prevention Of Asian Carp Act

Jun 30: Today U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) introduced legislation in the Senate, and Congressman Dave Camp (R-MI) introduced legislation in the House, to permanently prevent Asian carp and other invasive species from entering the Great Lakes. The Permanent Prevention of Asian Carp Act will require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct and expedite a study detailing engineering options in order to determine the best way to permanently separate the Mississippi River Basin from Lake Michigan.
 
    In the Senate, the legislation is also cosponsored by Carl Levin (D-MI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Al Franken (D-MN), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Roland Burris (D-IL). In the House, the legislation is cosponsored by Michigan Representatives John Dingell (D), Vern Ehlers (R), Pete Hoekstra (R), Dale Kildee, Carolyn Kilpatrick (D), Sandy Levin (D), Thaddeus McCotter (R), Candice Miller (R), Gary Peters (D), Mike Rogers, Mark Schauer (D), Bart Stupak (D), and Fred Upton (R)
  
    Senator Debbie Stabenow said, "The only way to protect our Great Lakes from Asian carp and other invasive species is to permanently separate the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes. Our legislation will require the U.S. Army Corps to promptly conduct their study of how to best separate these water systems, so we can begin this process as soon as possible. This permanent separation can allow shipping and cargo to pass through but would prevent the water from the Chicago waterway – and any invasive species living in it -- from entering Lake Michigan." 
  
    Senator Dick Durbin said, "Last week's discovery of an Asian Carp in Lake Calumet was a wake-up call that we need to do more and we need to do it quickly. We can't wait while the Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies broadly examine methods of controlling invasive species; we must act now. Our bill creates an expedited study of the feasibility of separating the waterways. While this method would require a complex feat of engineering, we need to understand the costs and benefits and whether this method offers the best hope for a long-term solution for containing not only the Carp, but other invasive species." 
 
    The study must begin within 30 days of the bill's enactment, and the Army Corps must send a progress report to Congress and the President within six months and again in 12 months. The full study must be completed and given to Congress and the President 18 months after the bill is enacted. It will be monitored by the Council on Environmental Quality to ensure its thorough and timely completion. The study will also address flooding threats, Chicago wastewater, water safety operations, and barge and recreational vessel traffic alternatives. It will examine other modes of transportation for the shipping industry and influence new engineering designs to move canal traffic from one body of water to the other without transferring invasive species. 

 

    Access a release from Senator Stabenow (click here). Access a video from Senator Durbin (click here).

Great Lakes NGOs Call For Presidential Asian Carp Action

Jun 29: An array of prominent national and Great Lakes conservation NGOs are calling on President Obama to radically change the Federal response to the ongoing Asian carp crisis. In a formal letter sent this morning, the groups express their alarm at "the lack of coordinated action and urgency shown by federal agencies in advancing real solutions to the carp crisis." Saying "it is time for a new sheriff in town," the sharply worded letter includes a request for the appointment of a White House "federal incident commander" to ensure appropriate coordination and instill the transparency that has been missing in the response to date. Noting last week's capture of a live bighead carp beyond any defenses in the Chicago Waterway System, the groups also call for greater speed in the federal response. In particular, the Army Corps of Engineers' Interbasin study of permanent solutions is behind schedule and could take up to seven years to suggest a fix.

 

    The call for action mirrors a similar request to the President from 11 U.S. Senators calling for a Federal Coordinated Response Commander responsible for organizing efforts to contain the spread of Asian carp. The Senators sending the June 25 letter included: Sherrod Brown (D-OH), George V. Voinovich (R-OH), Carl Levin (D-MI), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Herb Kohl (D-WI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Al Franken (D-MN), Richard Lugar (R-IN), Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) [See WIMS 6/28/10].

 

    The NGO letter expresses strong support for the leadership and proposals of U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Debbie Stabenow and other Senators calling for the appointment of a "federal incident commander", reporting directly to the President. The letter is signed by the Alliance for the Great Lakes, Environment Illinois, Freshwater Future, Great Lakes United, Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Prairie Rivers Network, and Sierra Club.

 

    The NGO letter indicates, "Fixing this problem requires fixing the infrastructure of the Chicago Waterway System that is exposing the Great Lakes and Mississippi River watersheds to risk from invasive species transfers." It also states that, "There is also a substantial need for greater transparency with regard to the federal government's Asian carp response efforts across the board. The Army Corps and other federal agencies have consistently failed to provide all relevant and useful data and information to the public about the results of environmental DNA testing indicating the presence of Asian carp in Chicago waterways, or with regard to other evidence of the carp's advance in any meaningful timeframe. . . Our nation cannot afford the loss of another great water resource."

 

    Access a release from the NGOs (click here). Access the complete letter (click here).

Senators Call For Response Commander For Asian Carp

Jun 28: A group of 11 Senators sent a letter urging President Obama to name a Federal Coordinated Response Commander responsible for organizing efforts to contain the spread of Asian carp. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), George V. Voinovich (R-OH), Carl Levin (D-MI), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Herb Kohl (D-WI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Al Franken (D-MN), Richard Lugar (R-IN), Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) signed the June 25, letter. On June 23, the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee (RCC) announced that one Bighead Asian carp had been found in Lake Calumet along the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS) -- the first physical specimen found in the CAWS above the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer's Electric Barrier System [See WIMS 6/24/10].

 

    The Senators said, "The Great Lakes are a national treasure, a significant economic resource and an invaluable recreational ecosystem. The Asian carp have the potential to debilitate a multi-billion dollar fishing industry and significantly impart the tourism industry. That is why we are calling on you to immediately appoint a Coordinated Response Commander for Asian carp to fight this battle. . . we write to you with a renewed sense of urgency, asking you to name a federal Coordinated Response Commander for Asian carp who can effectively marshal and organize these efforts to contain the spread of the carp. . .

 

    "State and federal officials have worked together since 2003 to develop containment strategies, including construction of electric barriers in the waterway designed to prevent the fish from reaching Lake Michigan and the other Great Lakes.  Now a Bighead Asian Carp has been taken from the waterway on the wrong side of the electric barrier. Scientists tell us that once Asian carp are established in the Great Lakes, significant environmental deterioration is unavoidable. . .

 

    "Preventing the Asian carp from entering Lake Michigan should be a national priority.  We need the best and the brightest -- scientists, engineers, and environmental experts -- focused on this single goal. That is why we are calling on you to immediately appoint a Coordinated Response Commander for Asian carp to fight this battle. We need someone with the knowledge and skills to direct and coordinate multiple federal, state and private sector efforts. . ."

 

    Access a release from Senator Brown including the letter (click here).

First Asian Carp Found Beyond Barrier System

Jun 23: The Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee (RCC) announced that one Bighead Asian carp has been found in Lake Calumet along the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS). This is the first physical specimen that has been found in the CAWS above the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer's Electric Barrier System. Previously, only eDNA samples were detected beyond the barrier. RCC agencies will enact immediate measures to remove any additional Asian carp found during sampling efforts, including but not limited to electrofishing and netting.

 

    John Rogner, Assistant Director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) said, "We set out on a fact finding mission and we have found what we were looking for. This is important evidence and the more information we have about where Asian carp are, the better chance we have of keeping them out of the Great Lakes." 

 

    The Bighead carp was found in Lake Calumet which sits between T. J. O'Brien Lock and Dam and Lake Michigan. The find was made in the northwest corner of the lake near Harborside Golf Course, approximately six miles downstream of Lake Michigan by a commercial fisherman contracted by the Illinois DNR during routine sampling efforts in the area. The fish was measured to be 34.6 inches long and weighed 19.6 pounds. This capture represents the first Asian carp discovered above the electric barrier system and just the second in the Chicago Area Waterway System.    

    The first Asian carp was found on December 3 in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC) below the electric barrier system and just above the Lockport Lock and Dam. Intensive sampling operations on the CAWS by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service first began on February 17 in an attempt to locate either Silver or Bighead Asian carp above the Electric Fish Barrier System. Previous sampling actions throughout the last four months above the barrier did not produce any Silver or Bighead carp.  

    Additional sampling actions on Lake Calumet above T.J O'Brien Lock and Dam will include IDNR and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service fishery biologists supported by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and commercial fishermen. Commercial fishing nets and electrofishing gear will continue to be used in Lake Calumet and additional resources will be deployed to begin sampling up the Calumet River leading to Lake Michigan. Electrofishing and sampling efforts in Lake Calumet and the Calumet River will continue throughout the next several weeks. During these activities every effort will be made to minimize the impact to waterway users and provide as much advanced notice of any possible waterway restrictions. 
 
    Mike Weimer,  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Assistant Regional Director of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Program said, "This issue is an extremely high priority for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and we will continue to work directly with our partners and stakeholders to implement the Asian Carp Control Strategy Framework using all available tools and techniques. We remain firmly committed to achieving our collective goal of preventing Asian carp from becoming established in Great Lakes waters."

 

    Colonel Vincent Quarles, Command of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Chicago District said, "The Army Corps of Engineers will continue to operate the locks and dams in the Chicago Area Waterway System for Congressionally authorized purposes of navigation, water diversion, and flood control. We will continue to support fish suppression activities by modifying existing structures such as locks as requested by other agencies to support this common goal. At this time there is no intention to close the locks."

 

    Access a release from the RCC (click here). Access the Asian Carp control website for more background information (click here).

Mayors Launch Green CiTTS Program For Green Municipal Practices

Jun 17: Mayors of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative (GLSLCI), representing 13 million Americans and Canadians, have launched the Green CiTTS  [Green Cities Transforming Towards Sustainability] Program to demonstrate their commitment to adopt and expand green municipal practices aimed at protecting and restoring the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, founding United States Chair of GLSLCI said, "Mayors understand that actions taken in our cities have a positive impact across the Great Lakes Basin. Today, cities are committing to expand and accelerate the implementation of innovative municipal projects and programs so that we can continue to lead the way on the protection and restoration of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River."

 

    The Green CiTTS program has four objectives: To Protect Water Resources and Coastal Areas; To Promote Low-Carbon Energy Generation and Consumption; To Adopt Green Land Use and Building Design; and To Encourage Green Economic Development. Actions under the Green CiTTS program in its inaugural year will contribute to protecting water resources and coastal areas, by providing support for municipal activities to reduce storm water runoff. This year's program is supported by the Joyce Foundation, in collaboration with partners including America Rivers, and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment.

 

    An important aspect of the Green CiTTS program is the promotion and adoption of green technologies to support this effort and the creation of green jobs to stimulate local and regional economies. Cities around the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence spend an estimated $15 billion on environmental protection initiatives each year.

 

    The Cities Initiative also announced the results from its Water Conservation Framework, now in its third year, and its Pharmaceuticals Framework, launched last year. To date, thirteen cities have collectively achieved a 13% reduction in water consumption- conserving approximately 87 billion gallons/ 329 billion litres of water, enough to fill 134,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. And over a 2 year period (2007,2008), eleven local governments collected a total of 685,000 lbs of pharmaceuticals and personal care products.

 

    Access a release from GLSLCI (click here). Access a backgrounder on the program (click here). Access more details on the Green CiTTS program (click here). Access the GLSLCI website (click here).

IJC Report On Groundwater In The Great Lakes Basin

Jun 16: The International Joint Commission (IJC) released a major binational assessment of the threats to groundwater in the Great Lakes basin. IJC indicates that groundwater in the Great Lakes basin is similar in volume to Lake Michigan and provides a source of drinking water for millions of basin residents. Yet this major component of the Great Lakes basin ecosystem receives inadequate attention in policies designed to protect Great Lakes water quality. For example, Annex 16 of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, which addresses contaminated groundwater, is the shortest annex to the Agreement. The Agreement is currently being renegotiated by the governments of Canada and the United States.

    The report -- Groundwater in the Great Lakes Basin -- by the IJC's Great Lakes Science Advisory Board recommends a range of actions by Federal, state and provincial governments in the areas of research, monitoring, regulation, enforcement and financial support. Local governments are also encouraged to increase source-water protection, conservation measures and requirements for on-site wastewater treatment. In 13 appendices, the report assesses a range of specific threats to groundwater in the basin from de-icing compounds to confined animal feeding operations.

    Access a release from IJC (click here). Access the complete 162-page report (click here).

Call For Great Lakes Network Of Energy R&D Centers

Jun 8: The Brookings Institution has release a policy brief entitled, Hubs of Transformation: Leveraging the Great Lakes Research Complex for Energy Innovation. According to the brief, America needs to transform its energy system, and the Great Lakes region (including Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, West Virginia, western Pennsylvania and western New York) possesses many of the needed innovation assets. For that reason, the brief says that the "Federal government should leverage this troubled region's research and engineering strengths by launching a region-wide network of collaborative, high intensity energy research and innovation centers."

 

    The brief indicates, "The Federal government should systematically accelerate national clean energy innovation by launching a series of "themed" research and commercialization centers strategically situated to draw on the Midwest's rich complex of strong public universities, national and corporate research laboratories, and top-flight science and engineering talent. Organized around existing capacities in a hub-spoke structure that links fundamental science with innovation and commercialization, these research centers would engage universities, industries and labs to work on specific issues that would enable rapid deployment of new technologies to the marketplace. Along the way, they might well begin to transform a struggling region's ailing economy. Roughly six compelling innovation centers could reasonably be organized in the Great Lakes states with total annual funding between $1 billion and $2 billion."

    To achieve this broad goal, the brief recommends that the Federal government should: Increase energy research funding overall; Adopt more comprehensive approaches to research and development (R&D) that address and link multiple aspects of a specific problem, such as transportation; and Leverage existing regional research, workforce, entrepreneurial and industrial assets.

 

    Access an overview and link to the complete brief and a video (click here).

Latest Council Of Great Lakes Governors Newsletter

Jun 8: The Council of Great Lakes Governors (CGLG) announced that the June 2010 edition of its newsletter, THE COMPASS, is now available. Highlights in this issue include: A Message from Council Co-Chair Ohio Governor Ted Strickland; Governors Applaud Great Lakes Funding Bill; Companies Find Opportunities During South America Trade Mission; Compact Council and Regional Body to Meet June 10 in Chicago; Conference Advances Great Lakes Science Stratergy; Council Engages European Union Officials; and Asian Carp Hunt Continues in Chicago-Area Water.

 

    Access the latest CGLG newsletter and back issues (click here). Access the CGLG website for more information (click here).

Army Corps Studies On Asian Carp Control Options

Jun 3: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) was directed in the Water Resources Development Act 2007 to conduct a study of a range of options or technologies for reducing impacts of hazards that may reduce the efficacy of the Electrical Dispersal Barriers located on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC). To expedite the evaluation, USACE divided the Efficacy study into several phases. USACE and its partner agencies in the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee (ACRCC) released the interim III and IIIA reports for public review. The other phases are outlined in the ACRCC Framework (See links below). Interim Report IIIA is a final report. The public comment period for the draft Interim III report will end on June 15, 2010.

 

    The report, Interim IIIA, Fish Deterrent Barriers, Illinois and Chicago Area Waterways Risk Reduction Study and Integrated Environmental Assessment, considered how technologies such as bubbles, lights and sounds could be used to deter Asian carp movement. In the course of this evaluation, USACE determined that, while these technologies do show promise, further testing and calibration of this tool against Asian carp is needed. In addition, there is significant expense associated with the fabrication and installation of this technology. USACE recommends installing one acoustic bubble curtain with strobe lights (ABS fish deterrent) near the Brandon Road Lock and Dam as a demonstration project.

    The second report, Interim III, Modified Structures Operations, Chicago Area Waterways Risk Reduction Study and Integrated Environmental Assessment, evaluated the potential for risk reduction that might be achieved through changes in the operation of the Chicago Area Waterway structures, such as locks, sluice gates, and pumping stations. The report includes a Risk Assessment, prepared by USFWS based on input from a panel of experts. The risk assessment considered possible lock operation alternatives as well as biological, ecological and risk management factors. The Expert Risk Analysis Panel concluded there is no individual or combination of lock operation scenarios that will lower "the risk of Asian carp establishing self-sustaining populations in Lake Michigan to an acceptable level."

    The report's primary recommendation is to place screens on the outer two sluice gates at the T.J. O'Brien Lock and Dam. The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago already placed similar screens on sluice gates at the Chicago River Controlling Works. After conducting a thorough analysis of modifications to lock operations, the report recommends intermittent lock operation on a case-by-case basis in support of fish management efforts such as spot piscicide application, or intensive commercial fishing efforts by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife (USFWS) and Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR).

    Access a release from ACRCC with commenting instructions (click here). Access the ACRCC for further information including the Framework (click here). Access the Interim III report (click here, 12MB). Access the Interim IIIA report (click here, 5MB).

270 Projects Approved For Great Lakes Initiative Funding

May 28: U.S. EPA's Great Lakes National Program Office invited 270 finalists to submit applications for a total of $161,450,000 in competitive grant funding under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). In response to its November 2009 request for grant proposals (RFP), EPA received more than 1,000 proposed projects from state, tribal, and municipal agencies, non-governmental organizations and other eligible entities aimed at restoring and protecting this national treasure. GLRI grants will fund projects that address the most important Great Lakes priorities, including reducing toxic contaminants, restoring the Great Lakes Areas of Concern, protecting beaches and beachgoers, keeping out invasive species and reducing polluted land-based runoff.

    Finalists may submit final applications immediately so that grants may be issued and work can begin this summer. Successful projects will focus on achieving results in the five priority areas identified by a Federal interagency task force as vital for restoring the Great Lakes. Each preliminary proposal was subjected to a rigorous review and ranking by multiple reviewers from EPA or other federal agencies. In February 2009, President Obama proposed $475 million for the GLRI and Congress appropriated full funding in October. Grants are expected to be awarded later this summer. Michigan had 99 projects approved for final applications.

    Access a release and link to a list of projects by states and by program areas and additional information on the finalists and the RFP (click here).