Simulation of hypothetical Asian carp egg and larvae development and transport in the Lockport, Brandon Road, Dresden Island, and Marseilles Pools of the Illinois Waterway by use of the Fluvial Egg Drift Simulator (FluEgg) model

Open-File Report 2016-1011
Prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
By: , and 

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Abstract

As part of the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is conducting an assessment of the vulnerability of the Chicago Area Waterway System and Des Plaines River to Asian carp (specifically, Hypophthalmichthys nobilis (bighead carp) and Hypophthalmichthys molitrix (silver carp)) spawning and recruitment. As part of this assessment, the USACE requested the help of the U.S. Geological Survey in predicting the fate and transport of Asian carp eggs hypothetically spawned at the electric dispersal barrier on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal and downstream of the Brandon Road Lock and Dam on the Des Plaines River under dry weather flow and high water temperature conditions. The Fluvial Egg Drift Simulator (FluEgg) model predicted that approximately 80 percent of silver carp eggs spawned near the electric dispersal barrier would hatch within the Lockport and Brandon Road pools (as close as 3.6 miles downstream of the barrier) and approximately 82 percent of the silver carp eggs spawned near the Brandon Road Dam would hatch in the Des Plaines River (as close as 1.6 miles downstream from the gates of Brandon Road Lock). Extension of the FluEgg model to include the fate and transport of larvae until gas bladder inflation—the point at which the larvae begin to leave the drift—suggests that eggs spawned at the electric dispersal barrier would reach the gas bladder inflation stage primarily within the Dresden Island Pool, and those spawned at the Brandon Road Dam would reach this stage primarily within the Marseilles and Starved Rock Pools.

Suggested Citation

Murphy, E.A., Garcia, Tatiana, Jackson, P.R., and Duncker J.J., 2016, Simulation of hypothetical Asian carp egg and larvae development and transport in the Lockport, Brandon Road, Dresden Island, and Marseilles Pools of the Illinois Waterway by use of the fluvial egg drift simulator (FluEgg) model: U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report 2016–1011, 19 p., http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ofr20161011.

ISSN: 2331-1258 (online)

Study Area

Table of Contents

  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Purpose and Scope
  • FluEgg Model Overview
  • Hydraulic Data
  • FluEgg Simulation Scenarios
  • Results
  • Limitations
  • Conclusions
  • References Cited
Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Simulation of hypothetical Asian carp egg and larvae development and transport in the Lockport, Brandon Road, Dresden Island, and Marseilles Pools of the Illinois Waterway by use of the Fluvial Egg Drift Simulator (FluEgg) model
Series title Open-File Report
Series number 2016-1011
DOI 10.3133/ofr20161011
Year Published 2016
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Contributing office(s) Illinois Water Science Center
Description vii, 19 p.
Country United States
State Illinois
Online Only (Y/N) Y
Additional Online Files (Y/N) N
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
Additional publication details