UNITED STATES—The United States Senate Appropriation Committee has approved a funding bill for energy and water that will force the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to release a report on ways to keep Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes.
The Detroit News reported on July 20 that the Senate bill will force the report’s release within 30 days after the budget is signed. The Donald Trump administration had delayed the scheduled release of the report in February, due to concerns raised by the commercial barge industry.
The bill is similar to a requirement that the House Appropriations Committee included in one of its government funding bills that counters the US federal government’s proposal to eliminate funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, reported the Detroit News. A $2 million portion of that program is used to fight Asian carp.
The carp report includes recommendations on how to keep the invasive fish from entering the Great Lakes at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam near Joliet, Illinois, it was reported. The $8 million USACE study initiated two years ago looked into environmental effects of particular ways to stop Asian carp from swimming past Brandon Road. Options could include a new engineered channel, an electric barrier, water-propulsion jets and noise cannons.
