Carp Act of 2010

This morning I found an email from Senator Debbie Stabenow’s office in my in-basket announcing that she and Dave Camp (R – Michigan), have introduced legislation to take immediate action against the Asian carp threat to the Great Lakes.

Here is an excerpt.

"I have been working to ensure that federal and state experts have all the tools they need to protect the Great Lakes from the Asian carp, and so far, the efforts have been very successful. (Really?) However, the recent announcements by scientists are a troubling development that requires an urgent response. Therefore, the bills that Congressman Camp and I introduced call for immediate action to:

• Immediately close the barriers and locks into the Great Lakes
• Expedite the installation of interim barriers in rivers where no barriers currently exist
• Enhance existing barriers and monitoring systems to prevent fish from crossing into the Great Lakes
• Grant full authority to the Army Corps of Engineers to eradicate the Asian carp and prevent them from entering the Great Lakes.

As your Senator, I will continue to work to protect our Great Lakes, which are critical to our state’s livelihood. As always, please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of assistance to you or your family.

Sincerely,

Debbie Stabenow

United States Senator"

I would like to see actions  added to permanently separate the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal from Lake Michigan and stop the out-of-basin diversion of 2.1 billion gallons of our water daily; and for authority to eliminate the Asian Carp to go to the US Fish & Wildlife Service. 

Although there are thousands of talented, good and concerned people working for the them, I don't have faith in the Army Corps to not mess around and then come up with excuses later.  Seems to be a pattern with USACE.  Not that they couldn't do the job, but it isn't in their core responsibilities, and I don't see their brass pushing it with urgency.