While
Ohio’s junior senator Rob Portman is heralding the August 7th
release of theArmy Corps of Engineers’ draft report to keep Asian
carp out of the Great Lakes, the 488-page document is far from the
last word on the subject.
Indeed,
the “Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study – Brandon
Road Integrated Feasibility Study and Environmental Statement –
Will County Illinois” is long in name though short on any promise
to keep three species of invasive Asian carp species now residing in
the Mississippi Watershed from crossing the line into the Great
Lakes.
The
stakes are high, though. Portman notes that the Great
Lakes support a $7 billion fishing industry and Lake Erie contributes
more than $10 billion to Ohio’s tourism industry.
“Both
of which would be jeopardized if Asian carp were allowed into the
Great Lakes,” Portman says.
And
the Corps’ recreational economic impact figures for the Great Lakes
as a whole are even greater: “...it is estimated that the annual
economic contribution of recreational fishing in and around the
(Great Lakes Basin) is approximately $13.3 billion,” the Corps
report says.
Even
so, the Corps is less certain regarding what an Asian carp invasion
may – or may not mean – to the vast Great Lakes eco-system. The
report notes in extensive detail the watershed’s biological
complexity that embraces about 302,000 square miles and includes more
than 5,000 tributaries.
“Estimates
of ecosystem changes were only available for Lake Erie’s biomass,
and are varied and uncertain,” notes the Corps in its guardedly
worded report.
Still,
the Corps’ draft document – and draft is the operative word even
Portman acknowledges – does detail six potential options to deal
with the matter.
These
six possible choices include – 1) No new action (thus, no action);
2) non-structural action (such as netting and strategic positioning
of boat ramps); 3) Technical alternative involving electrical
barriers; 4) Technical alternative involving “complex noise”
systems; 5) Technical alternatives involving both electrical and
complex noise systems; 6) Canal lock closure.
However,
the Corps says in the report that it cannot offer any guarantees with
any of the currently offered options.
“The
purpose of this study is to evaluate structural and nonstructural
options and technologies near the Brandon Road Lock and Dam site to
prevent the upstream transfer of ANS (Asian carp) from the
Mississippi River Basin into the Great Lakes Basin, while minimizing
impacts on existing waterway uses and users.
“For
this study, ‘prevent’ means the reduction of risk to the maximum
extent possible, because it may not be technologically feasible to
achieve an absolute solution,” the report says up front on page 21.
Portman
– and fellow elected federal legislators from other Great Lakes
states – are not about to give up or take “no” for an answer. Above
all, the officials say, the need is very real in order to help
ensure that “federal, state, and local policymakers can determine
the most effective measures to prevent further Asian carp movement,”
Portman said.
“My
colleagues and I have urged the Corps to release this plan so that
there is no delay in implementing measures to protect the Great Lakes
from Asian carp,” Portman said. “It is important that the Corps
remain on schedule to finalize the plan by January of 2019, and I
look forward to working with stakeholders and the Corps to do just
that.”
The Corp is accepting comments on the draft report through the GLMRIS website, mail, and hand-delivery. Comments will be accepted through September 21, 2017.
Mailed and hand delivered comments can be sent to: US Army Corps of Engineers, Chicago District
231 S. LaSalle St. Suite 1500, ATTN: GLMRIS – Brandon Road Comments Chicago, IL 6060.
A yet-to-be-determined series of public meetings around the Great Lakes is scheduled also. Dates, times, and locations will be announced, the Corps says.
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischk@Ameritech.net
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