Parting the Waters

[GLF]

Great Lakes experts look at ways to stop invasive species by parting the waters.

The Great Lakes and the Mississippi River have the two biggest watersheds on the North American continent, and they're connected to each other by an artificial canal in Chicago. Some people think it might be time to separate the Great Lakes and the Mississippi once again. They're concerned about the way invasive plants and animals can spread from one watershed to the other.

The Great Lakes Fishery Trust and the Great Lakes Fishery Commission have launched a major study of the Chicago canal. Marc Gaden works with the Fishery Commission. He says the study will look at ways to re-engineer the canal to stop foreign plants and animals without stopping waterborne traffic.

"The whole goal is to keep invasive species out of the Great Lakes and also to keep invasive species from going from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi. The biological separation study really asks one major question: Are there more things that we can do to eliminate the risk of invasive species while still maintaining the flow of boat traffic on this important waterway?"

The problem with foreign organisms moving between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi is very real. The infamous zebra mussel has spread rapidly from the Great Lakes across much of the Mississippi watershed. And today people are worried about a foreign fish in the Mississippi River that's moving toward the Great Lakes. It's the Asian carp, and it's so big and hungry that people refer to it as an "underwater lawnmower." The carp escaped from fish farms in the South and now it dominates parts of the Mississippi River. If Asian carp ever got through the Chicago canal, the fish could take over parts of the Great Lakes.

The Chicago canal has been fitted with an electric barrier to stop the Asian carp. Gaden says that's only a first step, and the ongoing study will list other options. It's scheduled for completion this summer.