Federal officials are pledging an additional $13 million to fight the invasive Asian carp. The money comes from the $475 million Great Lakes Initiative Fund.
Cameron Davis is with the EPA. He says the funds will go towards building additional barriers.
DAVIS: It’s a little like trying to avoid catching H1N1. There a lot of ways you can reduce the risks. One of the ways is making sure all the electric barriers are fully functional. Another is making sure carp don’t wash in from adjacent waterways and through conduits.
Officials are trying to prevent the Asian carp from slipping out of the infected Des Plaines River into a nearby shipping canal.
The canal is within the river’s floodplain - above a $20 million electronic barrier meant to keep the fish out of Lake Michigan. Officials fear Asian carp could destroy native species in the Great Lakes if a breeding population takes root.