ROCK ISLAND, Illinois – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District, has completed a draft Project Management Plan for accomplishing the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS) Brandon Road Study. The Study will evaluate potential control options and technologies at the Illinois River Brandon Road Lock & Dam to prevent the upstream Interbasin transfer of aquatic nuisance species (ANS) while minimizing impacts to waterway uses and users and identify a recommended plan.
The draft Project Management Plan details the tasks, costs and schedule necessary for planning decisions and general estimates for tasks necessary to complete the study. Due to the complexities involved in evaluating potential options and technologies for the control of aquatic nuisance species at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam, it is estimated that the study effort can be completed by January 2019 at an estimated additional cost of $8.2 million.
Incorporating Corps’ SMART Planning processes, the Study Team will have multiple decision points throughout the study to evaluate progress and to look for efficiencies that may result in reduced cost, reduced schedule or both.
The Brandon Road control point was identified in the GLMRIS analyses as the only location that can address upstream transfer of Mississippi River species through all Chicago Area Waterway System pathways. Implementation of technologies at the Brandon Road control point was a feature of three out of six structural alternatives presented in the GLMRIS Report.
The alternatives presented in the GLMRIS Report were conceptual. Further technical analyses and evaluation of possible control measures is necessary to determine whether there is a viable, efficient and justifiable solution. The detailed scope of work for study efforts at the Brandon Road site includes a multi-agency study team, additional technical analysis and synthesis, policy evaluation, National Environmental Policy Act analysis, site-specific detailed engineering analyses, interagency coordination and public comment which must be accomplished prior to making an agency recommendation.
Accomplishing these engineering tasks and policy analyses are critical to the selection of a particular alternative for implementation at the Brandon Road site.
ANS control is a shared responsibility among federal, state, regional and public stakeholders. The GLMRIS Brandon Road Team will continue to collaborate with agency and nongovernmental partners to support an integrated management approach to control Mississippi River ANS transfer into the Great Lakes.
The GLMRIS Brandon Road Draft Project Management Plan is available at http://www.mvr.usace.army.mil/About/Offices/ProgramsandProjectManagement/BrandonRoadPMP.aspx. Transcripts from public meetings, copies of all written scoping comments and additional study information are available on the GLMRIS project website http://glmris.anl.gov/brandon-rd/.