CHICAGO, Ill. — The federal government released a report last week exploring options for controlling invasive species in the Mississippi River and Great Lakes waterways, including Asian carp.

The Aquatic Nuisance Species (ANS) control paper was drafted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It examines 90 options for controlling the movement of nuisance species between the two water systems. It organized the options under 27 different categories and identified 39 ANS of concern.

Although the paper says there are 254 such species, only those with a potential to move between the waterways and have a negative environmental impact are listed.

The ANS control paper is just one part of the Great Lakes Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS), a much larger undertaking authorized by Congress. The Corps plans to finish the comprehensive study sometime in 2015, but that isn’t nearly soon enough for some of the stakeholders. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, for one, is calling for quicker action.

“Invasive species like Asian carp and zebra mussels cause massive economic and ecological destruction to states across the nation,” Schuette said at last November’s winter meeting of the National Assoc. of Attorneys General. “It’s time for Congress to take action and close the wide-open doorway at Chicago.”

Nuisance species include several kinds of algae, worms, crustacean, mollusk and fish. Bighead and Silver carp are the two big concerns of the moment; the fish made their way up the Mississippi River over approximately a 10-year period and have been found near electric barriers in the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS), which connects to Lake Michigan via several manmade paths.

Environmental DNA has also been found beyond the barriers, which could mean the carp are sometimes able to swim past them.

Last September Schuette announced a coalition of 17 attorneys general who signed a letter to chairs of three Congressional committees calling on them to move federal legislation – HR 892 and S. 471 – that would require quicker resolution of the Corps’ study, which includes an examination of permanent separation.

Schuette and attorneys general from Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are also continuing with a lawsuit against the Corps and the Chicago Water District, which have responsibility for managing the CAWS. They asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take the case and require the Corps to install block nets and finish its study sooner. There has been no word yet from the court.

“It’s too far in the future,” said Schuette spokeswoman Joy Yearout, of the study timetable.

She said HR 892 “has not moved, but the Attorney General is trying to keep the pressure on. He’s continuing his efforts to build a national coalition. He’s trying to build up concern nationally about the issue. There’s a lot of invasive species that can cause problems in inland waters.”

Dave Wethington, project manager of the GLMRIS CAWS, said the project will take several years to complete because a huge amount of data has to be collected and analyzed. He also said any changes recommended by the Corps will have to be accompanied by cost estimates.

Wethington is also satisfied Asian carp are not getting past the electric barriers in sufficient numbers to establish a breeding population. With “thousands of hours spent on monitoring, electro-fishing, as well as employing conventional fishing and netting techniques, only one Asian carp has been found above the fish barrier,” he said.

To read the ANS control paper or learn more in general about the GLMRIS, visit its website at www.glmris.anl.gov – you may also go there to comment on the control paper until Feb. 17.