Minn. joins Iowa invasive carp fight

Great Lakes invasion
In this file photo, two Asian carp are displayed in 2010 during a Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment hearing in Washington, D.C.
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

MILFORD, Iowa (AP) -- Minnesota has decided to help finance Iowa efforts to keep invasive carp out of the Iowa Great Lakes.

The Des Moines Register says the Minnesota Natural Resources Department is providing $261,000 to help Iowa set up an electrical barrier atop Lower Gar Lake dam. The dam has an outlet to Mill Creek, which runs into the Little Sioux River. The river watershed includes several southwest Minnesota Lakes.

A temporary fence had been erected on an outlet at Lower Gar Lake to keep out the silver carp.

The carp reproduce quickly and consume large quantities of food. Experts fear the carp could crowd out native species and create ecological problems for Iowa's chain of glacial lakes.

The silver carp have been known to leap into skiers and boats.

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