Discussing research on invasive Asian Carp with Rep. Bennie Thompson at the Army's Engineering Research and Development Center (ERDC), Vicksburg, MS

Discussing research on invasive Asian Carp with Rep. Bennie Thompson at the Army's Engineering Research and Development Center (ERDC), Vicksburg, MS
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Shipmates,

As we coped with the loss of our Guardians and Marines last week, I kept a previous promise to visit Vicksburg, MS on Sunday, 1 November 2009. After meeting with the crew at Air Station Sacramento (Friday) and the first responders in San Diego (Saturday), we stopped in Vicksburg, MS.

The visit was fascinating and I will be passing on our impressions in a series of posts here.

The main purpose of my visit was to fulfill an obligation I made to Representative Bennie Thompson, Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security. In 2006 I visited Greenville, MS and met with local officials on port security and marine safety issues with Chairman Thompson. For those of you who are not familiar with the long history of flood control on the Mississippi River, Greenville was "ground zero" in the Great Flood of 1927, that was chronicled in the extraordinary book "Rising Tide" by John Barry. For anyone who is interested in understanding the dynamics of the Mississippi River and the levee system in and around New Orleans prior to Hurricane Katrina, I recommend this book. We agreed following the Greenville visit to that a trip to Vicksburg was important.

Our visit to Vicksburg was a continuation of my more detailed education and understanding of the unique conditions and ecology of the Mississippi River Basin. This post is dedicated to our challenge with a particular invasive species in the Mississippi River system, the Asian Carp.

Asian Carp were brought into the country by catfish farmers in the 1970's (see EPA website www.epa.gov/glnpo/invasive/asiancarp/) to algae from ponds. After escaping into the Mississippi they have migrated to the Illinois River which is connected to Lake Michigan by the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.

We have been working extensively with the Army Corps of Engineers as they are constructing an array of cables across the canal to electrically charge the water and prevent the carp from crossing.

I received an onsite brief at the canal during my visit to Chicago in late August when I was in the area to participate in the CG Auxiliary National Conference (NACON). The research being conducted on the behavior of these fish is being carried out at the Army's Engineering Research and Development Center (ERDC) in Vicksburg, MS.

ERDC has an invasive species laboratory where they focus on invasive plants and animals. Chairman Thompson and I received in depth briefs and visited the tanks where the young carp are observed and tested in reacting to various levels of electrical charges in the water.

The lab was fascinating as were the various species being observed. We now know have a better idea of what we are dealing with in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.

Next topic ... modeling the hurricane flood gates being built to protect New Orleans.

ADM A