Camo At The Capitol

Asian Carp Update: Congressional hearing, “Carp Czar,” and the latest threat in Indiana

The Water and Power Subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last week received testimony from the White House and other top environmental agencies in charge of the Asian carp crisis.  The hearing, chaired by U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) purged the federal government's latest assessment of the issue as Great Lakes lawmakers push legislation sponsored by Stabenow and U.S. Congressman Dave Camp (R-MI) that would force the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to speed up its analysis on the feasibility of hydrologically separating the Great Lakes and Mississippi River watersheds. That legislation was introduced promptly after the first live Asian carp was found beyond electric barriers in Lake Calumet last month.

While that legislation may face a steep political climb with an Administration that has been anything but expedient in addressing the Carp issue, it appears to be more politically feasible than the common sense initiative pushed earlier this year, also by Stabenow and Camp. That legislation (the "CARP ACT") would instead force the Corps to immediately close navigational locks in Chicago in order to buy time for more comprehensive long-term studies on how to permanently separate the watersheds.

Besides the major effective disparity between the proposals, the major factor which may push the latest one out of purgatory is the support of U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL). Durbin, a harsh critic of lock closure who responded to Michigan's Supreme Court lawsuit to close the locks by suggesting that the Asian carp solution be solved "in the halls of Congress" appears to have gotten got his wish. While Michigan and other Great Lakes states battled the Chicago political machine - including Durbin - earlier this year on this issue, Durbin appears now to be joining the "Stop Asian Carp" bandwagon in a convenient, less controversial manner by supporting "speeding up a feasibility study" instead of immediately closing the locks. 

"Asian Carp Czar"

Last week Durbin and other Great Lakes lawmakers also succeeded in convincing the White House to appoint an Asian carp "Czar" to oversee the federal government's action on preventing the fish from entering the Great Lakes. The appointment is expected to be named within a month.

While this news keeps the Asian carp issue atop headlines in the Great Lakes region and nationwide, all it really confirms is politics as usual. The reality:  Collective federal agencies really do have a magnificent engineering feet ahead of them if they are going to succeed in permanently separating the Mississippi River from the Great Lakes. And that's going to take awhile. Meanwhile, however, there is absolutely zero interest by the Administration (and Sen. Durbin for that matter) to go against the grain of the Windy City politicians and shipping industry to do the right thing by closing the locks now while the studies are conducted.  In fact, top White House environmental aide Nancy Sutely's answer in last week's hearing to the question of the Administration's inaction on lock closure was astounding. Sutely suggested that because no more Asian carp have been caught beyond the electric barriers, there really is not an urgency to take such drastic measures. That was the same familiar argument we heard before a live Asian carp was found beyond the barriers when the White House downplayed the significance of Asian carp eDNA being detected as opposed to live fish.

Give credit where credit is due. All of this exhausting rhetoric comes in spite of the tremendous amount of support that Michigan's Congressional delegation has led with the assistance of other Great Lakes lawmakers. In a bi-partisan, bi-cameral fashion, they have worked tirelessly to keep this issue at the forefront (See Stabenow's latest op-ed following last week's hearing in The Hill). MUCC is looking forward to joining other Great Lakes advocates in a September Washington rally (Date TBD), for the second time this year in order to help bolster the Michigan Congressional delegation's leadership with grassroots advocacy directed at the Administration.

Threat spreads beyond Chicago

Meanwhile at the hearing, officials answered questions regarding recent reports that juvenile Asian carp have been discovered in Indiana's Wabash River, a short distance and within the floodplain of the Maumee River, which connects to Lake Erie. Worried about the potential for flooding to connect the two rivers, which could result in Asian carp invading Lake Erie, the U.S. Geological Survey conceded that studies are currently being conducted to construct permanent berms that would block the fish from spreading in the event of a flood. An official from the USGS testified that a solution would "be fairly simple ... compared to that in Chicago." Government officials also confirmed, however, that if Asian carp were to inhabit the Lake-Erie connecting Maumee River, there's little doubt that the invasive species would flourish in that habitat currently dominated by a popular walleye sportfishery.

Last week, Indiana Department of Natural Resources officials also announced a plan to construct a mesh barrier along a 700 acre marsh separating the Wabash and Maumee Rivers to prevent potential fish spillover in the event of a flood. The barrier is expected to be completed by the end of the summer. 

The creation of a "Asian Carp Czar" and necessity of legislation ordering the expedition of an already urgent study is pretty ridiculous. Perhaps it is one step in the right direction out of political gridlock between Great Lakes states and Chicago politicians. Let's hope it's not just another worthless compromise that's already too late - for the sake of our fishing heritage and the economic sustenence provided by our Great Lakes.

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