Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID SD-2024-Coulter

Assessing Preventative Actions and Barriers for Minimizing Aquatic Invasive Species Pathways in the Upper Mississippi River Basin

Institute: South Dakota
USGS Grant Number:
Year Established: 2024 Start Date: 2025-01-01 End Date: 2027-12-31
Total Federal Funds: $174,399 Total Non-Federal Funds: $174,399

Principal Investigators: Alison Coulter

Project Summary: This study aims to explore how Upper Mississippi River (UMR) states and neighbors arrived at current prevention strategies for aquatic invasive species (AIS) pathways, rank which pathways pose the most risk for introductions of AIS, and identify barriers for why states may not be able to implement regulations, education, and inspections to reduce risk. We plan on reviewing invasion records from the Nonindigenous Aquatic Invasive Species (NAS) database and conducting email surveys and semi-structured interviews. We believe the information gained from this study will be useful for recommending proactive and effective management strategies and increasing information sharing among regions which will ultimately reduce the negative impacts and risk of AIS.