GLIN==> Press Release: Corps Interbasin Study Comment Period to End March 31st (UNCLASSIFIED)

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

For Immediate Release:
February 25, 2011

Contact:
Jacqueline Tate, 513-684-3010
Jacqueline.y.Tate at usace.army.mil

CINCINNATI, OH - In Fall of 2010 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers unveiled
its strategy for undertaking a comprehensive study of ways to prevent aquatic
nuisance species, such as Asian carp, from transferring between the Great
Lakes and Mississippi River Basins (GLMRIS) and invited the public to provide
comment on that strategy. Opportunity to provide public comment during this
initial public scoping period is available through March 31, 2011. The last
opportunity to attend a public scoping meeting will be in Ypsalanti, MI,
March 8, at the Ann Arbor Marriott, at 2 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. 

	Anyone wanting to view or comment on the Great Lakes and Mississippi
River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS) program management plan can do so online at
www.GLMRIS.anl.gov.

	In the GLMRIS, the Corps is addressing the entire region and studying
ways to prevent transit by aquatic nuisance species along all potential
aquatic pathways between the basins.  The scope of GLMRIS is massive, dealing
with 1,500 miles of hydrologically complex topography and dozens of aquatic
nuisance species. The Chicago Area Waterway system is particularly
challenging given the multiple uses of a continuously flowing channel in
heavily urbanized terrain. Those uses include flood risk management, storm
water management and wastewater discharge, commercial and recreational
navigation, industrial water supply, and transit by public safety vessels. As
a result of these complexities, the study must develop a comprehensive grasp
of the potential consequences of making changes to any part of this system.  

	The deliberate and thorough process that Corps feasibility studies,
such as GLMRIS, follow ensures that comprehensive and scientifically-based
facts and relevant data are developed in order to formulate recommended
alternatives. As a result of its great scope and complexity, and because the
Corps must abide by various laws and policies, including the National
Environmental Policy Act, responsibly executing this study will require
considerable time, energy, and resources.  This structured approach is
essential for determining the most effective permanent solution.  

	Although the final GLMRIS study is not expected to be completed until
2015 at the earliest, the Corps intends to release interim products as they
are developed. In the meantime, the Corps and its partners in the
multi-agency Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee (ACRCC) will continue
to pursue the effective actions the agencies have underway, as outlined in
the multi-tiered strategic framework document (www.asiancarp.org). These
actions include operating and improving the fish barrier, aggressive
monitoring, rapid response and various research efforts, all aimed at
containing the Asian carp threat. 

GLMRIS has produced on-the-ground results already.  In 2010 the study team
found a near-term risk for Asian carp migration into Lake Erie from Eagle
Marsh, in northeast Indiana.  As a result of this finding, the Indiana
Department of Natural Resources completed a temporary barrier to impede Asian
carp movement in September 2010.
   
      Active participation by all stakeholders to provide relevant data and
research information for the GLMRIS is welcomed by the Corps and will help
inform, and assist us to achieve the study purpose. If we are going to keep
Asian carp from the Great Lakes, we need the active support of any state or
local agency, academic, or scientific institution that has information or
capabilities to help develop recommendations.

	The Corps' efforts to contain Asian carp include the continuous
operation of a highly effective electric barrier to prevent fish passage via
the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC), construction of a 13-mile barrier
that prevents fish bypass during flooding, participation in monitoring
efforts, and applying a variety of tools including intensive netting,
electro-fishing and environmental DNA sampling.  USACE expedited the design
and construction of a third electric barrier that was completed a full year
ahead of schedule, and will soon go into full-time operation.

	All available laboratory research and field evidence shows that the
electric barrier system effectively deters Asian carp that could be
challenging the barriers. The Corps anticipates releasing a report
summarizing research relevant to the operating parameters of the electric
fish barriers in March.  Despite recovery of over 130,000 pounds of fish from
a single stretch of waterway and over 3200 hours of intensive and focused
fishing efforts in the last year, only a single Asian carp has been found
above the fish barrier. As a result, the multi-agency team has concluded that
any Asian carp that may be present above the fish barrier are in such low
numbers that they are not positioned to develop a sustainable population.  

      "Because of the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee's effective
actions, we have the time to do this enormous and complex study thoroughly
and properly.  An effective solution must, by law, take into account all
potential impacts of proposed alternatives, and because of this the solution
cannot be pre-determined. Executing a study quickly does not mean it would
result in an effective plan. An approach with a pre-set timetable or that is
designed for speed, is almost certain to result in unknown and unintended
consequences, excessive cost, and ultimately inadequate solutions," said
Major General John Peabody, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
Great Lakes and Ohio River Division. 

For more information on the ACRCC visit www.asiancarp.org.







Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE