Steps taken to slow the 'carp highway' into the Great Lakes

The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation has awarded a  $500,000 grant to the Great Lakes Commission to "investigate the best economic and environmental solutions for preventing non-native creatures from swimming into the Great Lakes via Chicago's canals and further disrupting the delicate ecosystem balance," according to a press release. The project is investigating ways for re-separating the Great Lakes and Mississippi, as the natural barriers between these two watersheds were removed during the last century. "This 18-month comprehensive study will lead to options for improving transportation, water quality, and flood management in the waterways, as well as stopping invasive species," David Ullrich, executive director of the binational Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, said. (Read more) (Bighead carp, photo by U.S. Fish and Wildlife)

Attorneys from five Great Lakes states argued before U.S. District Judge Robert M. Dow to close Chicago-area shipping locks to stop Asian carp before they reach Lake Michigan, the Chicago Tribune reported Monday. The states are asking Dow to issue an emergency injunction to close what Michigan's assistant attorney general Robert Reichel called a "carp highway." Department of Justice attorneys argue that the federal government and Army Corps have spent millions to track and control Asian carp. Sealing the locks, which also aid in flood control by releasing water back into Lake Michigan, presents a grave risk to area residents during heavy rains. Dow will consider the states' request for an emergency injunction after a three-day hearing in Chicago beginning Sept. 7. (Read more)

Asian carp is not the only problem in Chicago waterways.  "Alligator Bob," who has volunteered with the Chicago Herpetological Society for about 20 years, has rescued more than 70 alligators from Illinois and Wisconsin waterways. He doesn't give out his last name because people call him to take their unwanted animals. After being summoned to nab a gator seen sunning on the banks of the Chicago River, Bob said, "If I don't get it, the animal is going to die," adding that alligators won't survive Chicago winters. Bob caught a 3-foot alligator Monday in the Chicago River. (Read more)