Great Lakes Restoration Initiative - Eagle Marsh Projects at Ft. Wayne, IN

The goal of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) is to target the most significant environmental problems in the Great Lakes ecosystem by funding and implementing federal projects that address these problems. Through a Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS) Controls Report issued in May 2013, the Eagle Marsh complex at Ft. Wayne, Indiana was singled out as the area of greatest concern for the transfer of Aquatic Nuisance Species (ANS) through aquatic pathways between the Great Lakes Basin and Mississippi River Basin. Eagle Marsh includes 716 acres of urban natural area. It is owned jointly by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) and Little River Wetland Project (LRWP). The Controls Report indicates that ¿Eagle Marsh spans a low spot in the basin divide, where the surface waters between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins periodically connect during significant flooding events¿Flooding occasionally opens a gateway between these basins and provides the opportunity for ANS from one basin to spread into other, which can be harmful to their respective aquatic ecosystems.¿The overall objective of this funding opportunity is to fund certain aspects of a larger project and permanent plan to eliminate the potential for ANS to move from the Mississippi River Basin to the Great Lakes Basin and vice versa via the Eagle Marsh complex. Under this funding opportunity, GLRI funds will be used to fund projects for a detailed wetland/habitat restoration and enhancement plan, implementation of this plan, initial and long-term maintenance of all project components. GLRI funds also include funding for land acquisition if regulatory agencies require wetland/habitat restoration and enhancement to occur off-site to complete this project.