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Dewey Hall of Hall Growers Inc. in Lodi shows Director James Zehringer of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (right) and Fisheries Supervisor Rich Carter (left) of the Ohio Division of Wildlife the waterways on his farm, and the dikes that separate them. The creeks and streams could be a pathway for Asian carp from the Ohio River to invade Lake Erie.
(D'Arcy Egan, The Plain Dealer)
LODI, Ohio – State and local officials visited 1,700 acres of corn and soybean fields farmed by Hall Growers Inc. here on Monday. The unique patch of farm fields, streams and dikes has been pinpointed by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as one of four Ohio pathways for Asian carp to invade Lake Erie and the Great Lakes.
None of the pathways are a likely conduit for the invasive carp, but Director James Zehringer of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources said his department is not taking any chances. Dewey Hall’s acreage is on the sub-continental divide, connecting the Ohio River to Lake Erie.
Its watershed drains both north and south. Heading south, its waters flow into Little Killbuck Creek and eventually to the Walhonding and Muskingum rivers and on to the Ohio River. The northerly flow heads to the Black River, a direct path to central Lake Erie.
“It is an unlikely pathway, but we’re taking all of them seriously,” said Zehringer. “Monitoring Asian carp is our main tool right now, including telemetry studies of Asian carp in the Ohio River.”
Asian carp continue to move up the Ohio River. They are now in the Greenup Pool in the Portsmouth, Ohio, area. The carp are also swimming up Ohio River tributaries, including the Little Miami River in the Cincinnati area.
Generally, the waters of the sub-continental divide don’t mix on Hall’s farm in southern Medina County. Many years ago, his family constructed a 5- to 6-foot dike to prevent it.
“It’s worked,” said Hall. “At least since the dike broke in 1969.”
Whether a larger or more permanent dike is needed was a reason Zehringer and other state officials toured his farm, examining irrigation ditches and the long dirt dikes covered with vegetation.
“A new barrier might be needed,” said Zehringer. “If so, we’ll work with Dewey Hall to build it.”
The other pathways, and just as unlikely, are Grand Lake St. Marys in western Ohio; the Ohio-Erie Canal at Long Lake in the Akron area; and Mosquito Creek Reservoir in the northeast corner of the state.
The most likely way Asian carp will invade the Great Lakes is through the Chicago Waterway System. USACE recently released eight plans to prevent it. The most preferred way voiced at public hearings in Cleveland and other Great Lakes cities, was to permanently shut down the connection between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River in the Chicago area. Those plans will cost $15 to $16 billion, according to a USACE report.
High on the list pathways that also has an Ohio connection is Eagle Marsh in Indiana. In flood stage, Eagle Marsh allows the waters of St. Marys River in Indiana to mix with the upper Maumee River. Its headwaters in Indiana, the Maumee River flows into Ohio and on to Lake Erie at Toledo. Indiana constructed a 1,400-foot chain link fence in 2010 to prevent adult Asian carp from entering the Maumee River.