March 2013 • Volume 5, Issue #3
SENATOR DURBIN to RECEIVE 2013
WCI LEADERSHIP AWARD
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) has been pegged to receive
the 2013 Waterways Council Leadership Service
Award at a March 19 ceremony during WCI’s
annual Seminar in Washington, DC.
In a March 5 WCI Breaking News alert, the
ceremony for this, the 12th annual award, was
announced for 2:45pm at the Seminar location, the
Madison Hotel. Sen. Durbin, the Assistant Majority
Leader, was a vocal proponent for keeping the
navigation channel open during the 2012-2013 low
water crisis. His voice and assistance working with
WCI was crucial, calling for the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers to speed up its planned schedule for
removal of rock pinnacles that impeded navigation
south of St. Louis.
U.S. HOUSE REPRESENTATIVES to
PRESIDENT: START NESP NOW
Members of the 113th Congress sent a clear message
to President Obama: Start the NESP program in the
FY14 budget. In a letter penned by Rep. Aaron
Schock (R-IL, 18) and co-lead by Rep. Dave
Loebsack (D-IA, 2), 21 Members from the five
Upper Mississippi River Basin states as well as
Ohio called for the Navigation-Ecosystem
Sustainability Program (NESP) to move forward in
this year’s budget.
“During your recent State of the Union Address to
Congress, you called for repairing our nation’s
infrastructure as well as the need to protect our
environment for future generations. NESP will do
both of these things,” the letter states.
The continued and unwavering support for NESP
was underscored in the letter. “Implementation of
NESP’s dual-purpose plan is endorsed by the basin
states, along with a wide and diverse coalition of
stakeholders which continue to work to support this
vital and overdue program,” the letter emphasizes.
“The agriculture producers, manufacturers,
commercial navigation industry, shipping entities,
organized labor, economic development groups, and
environmental and conservation interests join a
wide array of other stakeholders in declaring their
firm support of NESP. “
CHAIRMAN of MISSISSIPPI RIVER
VALLEY & TRIBUTARIES CAUCUS:
“NEW LOCKS WOULD PUT LABOR
BACK to WORK”
New lock construction will “put our construction
trades and labor folks back to work,” said the
chairman of the newly-formed Mississippi Valley &
Tributaries Caucus of the U.S. House of
Representatives. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-IL, 13)
addressed the Infrastructure Council of the Illinois
Chamber of Commerce on February 19.
Among topics he discussed were dredging needs in
the Lower Mississippi to keep Illinois agricultural
products moving out to global markets. “We also
need to look at a long-term lock replacement
program” to address infrastructure needs on the
Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. Rep. Davis referred
to several elements of the Capital Development
Plan in his comments to the council.
The 13th district includes stretches of both rivers.
The newly designed district now includes the
eastern edge for dams 24 and 25 on the Mississippi
and a swath of the Illinois River that includes its
confluence with the Mississippi. Rep. Davis
subsequently announced that he is seeking
March 2013 • Volume 5, Issue #3
constituents from his 13th district to help form a
Transportation Advisory Panel.
LOW WATER OPERATIONS CEASE
from CORPS, COAST GUARD
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Coast
Guard released a joint statement on February 28
indicating they have finished work along the Middle
Mississippi related to low water operations.
Contractors completed their work removing the
initial phase (approximately 1,000 cubic yards) of
rock from the navigation channel near Thebes and
Grand Tower, IL. Dredging removed more than 8
million cubic yards of sediment between July 2012
and February 2013. Releases from Lake Carlyle
lifted the river an additional six inches.
The Coast Guard announced that 2,124 vessels and
13,206 barges (equivalent to over 765,000 semi-trucks)
passed the stretch of rock pinnacle work over the two
month period of its removal. With resumption of
normal river operations, according to the joint
statement, the Corps, Coast Guard and industry
have begun discussions of how to improve response
and coordination in future events.
STUDY REVEALS INACCURACIES of
ASIAN CARP e-DNA TESTING
A study released February 20 indicates that e-DNA
can show positive ‘hits,’ indicating presence of
Asian carp, where the invasive fish weren’t actually
present. The results of the Asian Carp
Environmental DNA Calibration Study are part of a
three-year inquiry by the Corps, U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service, and U.S. Geological Service. This
particular study was aimed to explore the precision
of e-DNA results. E-DNA has been widely
criticized for its potential for inaccuracies.
Multiple explanations for positive e-DNA to show
up abound, including excrement, slime and loose
scales are just a few means for e-DNA to indicate
false positives in waterways where the fish never
existed. Examples include waste from fish-eating
birds, contaminated fishing gear, boat hulls, dead
fish carried past the electric barrier, and traces of eDNA brought into the Chicago Sanitary & Ship
Canal via water or ice entering the city storm water
sewers.
The study indicated that e-DNA is often present,
and hard to remove, from boat hulls. The e-DNA
"does not appear to be completely or quickly
washed off of boats moving through the water" and
can be present for days, the study found.
Only one live carp has been found beyond the
electric barrier 37 miles southwest of the city,
despite intensive netting operations after repeated
positive e-DNA findings.
The bighead carp can reach up to 100 pounds, and
juvenile bigheads can eat up to 130 percent of their
body weight daily. Adults can consume up to 40
percent of their body weight daily. The more
recognizable silver carp have become internet
sensations for their habit of jumping several feet out
of the water when disturbed by the sound and
vibrations of boat motors. Both bighead and silver
have gluttonous appetites, starving out native
species for food as well as habitat. Both can also
spawn multiple times annually, furthering the
ability to displace native fish species.
The study indicates that e-DNA can show positive
‘hits’ (indicating presence of Asian carp) where the
invasives don’t actually exist. The results of the
“Asian Carp Environmental DNA Calibration
Study” are part of a three-year inquiry by the U.S.
March 2013 • Volume 5, Issue #3
Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service, and U.S. Geological Service. This
particular study was aimed to explore the precision
of e-DNA results. E-DNA has been widely
criticized for its potential for inaccuracies.
Multiple explanations abound for positive e-DNA
results. Excrement, slime and loose scales are just a
few means for e-DNA to appear – sending false
positives in waterways where the fish never existed.
Examples include waste from fish-eating birds,
contaminated fishing gear, boat hulls, dead fish
carried past (or over) the electric barrier, and traces
of e-DNA brought into the Chicago Sanitary & Ship
Canal via water or ice entering the city storm water
sewers.
The study indicated that e-DNA is especially often
present, and hard to remove, from boat hulls. The
e-DNA "does not appear to be completely or
quickly washed off of boats moving through the
water" and can be present for days, the study found.
Only one live carp has been found beyond the
electric barrier 37 miles southwest of the city,
despite intensive netting operations after repeated
supposedly positive e-DNA findings.
The bighead carp can reach up to 100 pounds, with
adults consuming up to 40 percent of their body
weight daily. Juvenile bigheads can consume up to
130 percent of their body weight daily. The more
notorious silver carp have been caught on camera
jumping out of the river when disturbed by boat
motors. Both are filter feeders and have a high
reproductive capacity. Black and grass carp
comprise the other two of four Asian carp species.
ASIAN CARP BILL LOOKS to CLOSE
UPPER MISSISSIPPI LOCK
In mid-February, members of the Minnesota
Congressional delegation including U.S. Senators
Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, with U.S.
Representatives Keith Ellison, Erik Paulsen, Tim
Walz and Rick Nolan introduced legislation that
could close Upper St. Anthony Falls lock in a
purported effort to fight the spread of Asian carp in
Minnesota’s waterways.
The Upper Mississippi Conservation and River
Protection Act (Upper Mississippi CARP Act)
requires the Corps to conduct feasibility studies on
both the temporary and permanent closure of the
Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock within six months
(for temporary closure) and a year (for permanent
closure) of the bill becoming law, respectively.
The studies would also look at using other control
methods, such as limited lock operations and
alternative barriers similar to those in place and
being studied on the Illinois River.
Minnesota will also be leading gubernatorial
activity surrounding Asian carp: Gov. Mark Dayton
was elected chair of the Midwestern Governor’s
Association last month and has pledged to focus on
invasive species for the coming year.
WCI REACHES OVER 6,000 at AG
GROWERS COMMODITY CLASSIC
Waterways Council joined more than 6,000 farmer
members of various agriculture associations at the
annual Commodity Classic, the national conference
and trade show for corn, soybean, wheat and
sorghum growers’ associations.
The event included a display by WCI on the trade
show floor, a river briefing for WCI member groups
and a press conference addressing river
infrastructure needs. “There’s no question that
March 2013 • Volume 5, Issue #3
there has been a terrible lack of funding on the
waterways, on the locks,” said Danny Murphy,
president of the American Soybean Association and
a grower from Mississippi.
Illinois farmer Garry Niemeyer, Chairman of the
National Corn Growers Association, stressed the
role lock improvements could potentially have on
dictating the strength of exports in the future.
“We’re losing our export markets to..Brazil and
Argentina right now. We have to stop that. We have
to grow our infrastructure,” stated Niemeyer.
River issues were a clear area of interest among the
growers from all over the country, primarily due to
the national media attention from the low water
crisis. Pending legislative activity also drove
interest from leaders of these associations that
fought for NESP authorization in the Water
Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2007,
only to see progress grind to a standstill.
The viability of American ports and the impacts of
the Panama Canal were also discussed, but low
river levels were of particular interest. Low river
levels were directly impacting American farming
families, from the timely transportation of grain for
export, to moving fertilizer and other inputs needed
for the 2013 crop in a timely and cost-effective
manner.
WCI’s message to the family farmers
attending included a call for farmers to
highlight the importance of transportation in
their operations and to engage the new
Congress to stand up for efficient river
transportation.
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