A new report, available on the Great Lakes Commission website, concludes that physical separation of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watersheds is the best long-term solution to prevent Asian carp and other invasive species from migrating between the waterbodies.  The report provides three separation alternatives, with costs ranging from $3.2 billion to $9.5 billion. 

Another study undertaken by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is not expected to be completed until 2015. The Corps has come under pressure to move its study along more expeditiously, and the release of this study will likely add fuel to that fire.