Feasibility Study to Limit the Invasion of Asian Carp into the Upper Mississippi River Basin (Final Report – March 15, 2004) Prepared for the Minnesota DNR in cooperation with the Wisconsin DNR and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Region 3) Prepared By: With Assistance From: Acknowledgements The knowledge and understanding of Asian carp, their distribution, and the technologies to limit their invasion of the Upper Mississippi River Basin assembled in this report would not be possible without the support and generous sharing of information by countless individuals. We would like to acknowledge the following individuals for their dedication to provide input to the final work product: Jake Wingate- Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MN DNR) Jay Rendall - Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MN DNR) Ron Payer- Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MN DNR) Lee Pfannmuller- Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MN DNR) Gerry Jackson- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Mike Oetker- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Mike Hoff- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Pam Thiel- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Greg Conover- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Jerry Rasmussen- Mississippi Interstate Cooperative Resources Association (MICRA) Phil Moy- Wisconsin Sea Grant Duane Chapman- United State Geological Survey (USGS) Edward Little- United State Geological Survey (USGS) Dan Wilcox- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) Randy Ferrin- NPS St. Croix NRS Ron Benjamin- Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Additional individuals provided information, data and/or photos to aid in the discussions: Rob Maher- Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) Amy Benson - United State Geological Survey (USGS) Pam Fuller - United State Geological Survey (USGS) Mark Pegg – Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) John Dettmers- Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) Ron Taylor- Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) Feasibility Study Project Team: Matt Cochran –FishPro/Cochran & Wilken, Inc. Gary Wilken- FishPro/Cochran & Wilken, Inc. Peter Berrini- FishPro/Cochran & Wilken, Inc. Jim Bakken- Ayers Associates David Johnson- HDR Engineering, Inc. Steve Bartell- The Cadmus Group Ed Donahue- FishPro a Division of HDR Photo: Chris Young MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES Feasibility Study to Limit the Invasion of Asian Carp into the Upper Mississippi River Basin REPORT TABLE OF CONTENTS Page I. Introduction Purpose...........................................................................................................I-1 Scope of Work ...............................................................................................I-1 Prior Studies...................................................................................................I-2 Project Authorization.....................................................................................I-2 II. Executive Summary and Recommendations Study Overview .............................................................................................II-1 Findings and Recommendations....................................................................II-1 Implementation ..............................................................................................II-4 III. Overview of The Upper Mississippi River (UMR) Physical and Hydrological Characteristics ....................................................III-1 Review of Water Quality Conditions.............................................................III-4 Critical Habitat and Areas of Biodiversity Significance................................III-5 Summary of Native Species...........................................................................III-6 Aquatic Nuisance Species (ANS) ..................................................................III-8 Review of Current Asian Carp Monitoring and Research in UMR...............III-10 Bighead Carp ...........................................................................................III-12 Silver Carp...............................................................................................III-17 Black Carp ...............................................................................................III-22 Grass Carp................................................................................................III-25 IV. Ecological Risk Assessment Framework USEPA Framework for Ecological Assessment............................................IV-2 Problem Formulation ...............................................................................IV-2 Exposure Analysis ...................................................................................IV-2 Effects Assessment ..................................................................................IV-3 Risk Characterization...............................................................................IV-3 Analysis of Uncertainty ...........................................................................IV-4 Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force Risk Assessment Model ...................IV-5 Group 1: Assess Probability of Organism Establishment.......................IV-5 Group 2: Assess Consequences of Establishment ..................................IV-8 Risk Reduction...............................................................................................IV-11 Recommended Framework for Asian Carp Ecological Risk Assessment.....IV-11 Anticipated Impacts of Asian Carp................................................................IV-13 V. Technology Review of Potential Alternatives Overview of Barrier and Deterrent Alternatives............................................V-1 Overview of Management Alternatives.........................................................V-10 VI. Alternatives Analysis and Recommendations Analysis of Potential Barrier Locations.........................................................VI-1 Analysis of Measures to Prevent/Slow Invasion ...........................................VI-7 Probable Operational and Construction Costs ...............................................VI-9 TOC-1 MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES Feasibility Study to Limit the Invasion of Asian Carp into the Upper Mississippi River Basin VII. Appendices A. Regulatory Review B. List of Species Occurring in the Mississippi River C. Literature Review D. Meeting Summaries E. Key to Asian Carp Identification F. Commercial Fishing Data G. List of Abbreviations Used H. Original MNDNR Outline I. List of Significant Stream Order Tributaries of the UMR List of Tables Table IV-1 – Comparison of USEPA (1992) Framework for Ecological Risk Assessment and ANS (1996) Risk Assessment Model. Table V-2 – Summary of Potential Management Alternatives Table VI-1 – Design Data for Upper Mississippi River System Dams (Source: COE Fish Passage Report’s Table 5) Table VI-2 – Opportunity for Upriver Passage by Asian Carp through UMR Lock and Dams. Table VI-3 – Prioritization and Ratings Matrix for Potential Control Alternatives List of Figures Figure III-1 – Upper Mississippi and Missouri River Watershed Boundaries Figure III-2 – Upper Mississippi Basin Plan Figure III-3 – Key Asian Carp Activity Areas Associated with the UMR Figure III-4 – Bighead Carp collected in the Missouri River Figure III-5 – Bighead carp collected in Lake Pepin, MN Figure III-6 – State with Reported bighead carp collections Figure III-7 – Bighead Carp LTRMP Total Catch per Year Figure III-8 – Bighead Carp Distribution Map Figure III-9 – Commercial Harvest of Asian Carp in UMR Pools #8 - #27 Figure III-10 – Silver Carp Species Figure III-11 – Silver Carp Species Figure III-12 – States with Reported Silver Carp Occurrences Figure III-14 – Silver Carp LTRMP Total Catch per Year Figure III-15 – Black Carp Species Figure III-16 – States with Reported Black Carp Occurrences Figure III-17 – Grass Carp Species Figure III-18 – States with Reported Grass Carp Occurrences Figure III-19 – Grass Carp LTRMP Total Catch per Year Figure III-20 – Commercial Harvest of Asian Carp from UMR Pool #3 to Open River Figure IV-1 – Schematic Illustration of USEPA Framework for Ecological Risk Assessment (adapted from USEPA 1998) Figure IV-2 – Schematic illustration of Risk Reduction for Asian Carp based on Cumulative Probability of Estimated Rate of Spread TOC-2 MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES Feasibility Study to Limit the Invasion of Asian Carp into the Upper Mississippi River Basin Figure V-1 – Typical Strobe Light System Figure V-2 – SPA System and Multi-Directional Sound Field (courtesy of FGS Ltd.) Figure V-3 – Bio-Acoustic Fish Fence System (courtesy of Fish Guidance Systems, Ltd.) Figure V-4 – Graduated Field Fish Barrier Schematics (courtesy of Smith-Root, Inc.) Figure VI-1 – Upper Mississippi River and Illinois Waterway locks and dams (Source: COE Fish Passage Report’s Figure 1) AA. Figure VI-2 – Percent of Time that Gates are raised out of the Water at Upper Mississippi River Navigation Dams (Source: COE Fish Passage Report’s Figure 6) Figure VI-3 – Location Map of Recommended Alternatives Figure VI-4 – Lock and Dam 19 with Proposed Alternative Location Figure VI-5 – Oblique Aerial View of Lock and Dam 19 Figure VI-6 – Lock and Dam 14 with Proposed Alternative Locations Figure VI-7 – Lock and Dam 8 with Proposed Alternative Locations Figure VI-8 –Lock and Dam 15 with Proposed Alternative Locations Figure VI-9 – Lock and Dam 11 with Proposed Alternative Locations Source: Chris Young TOC-3 Feasibility Study To Limit the Invasion of