Freeborn County officials are looking to address the spread of harmful species to area waters.

The county issued a request for proposals to the city of Albert Lea and watershed districts within Freeborn County Monday for projects to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species.

There is approximately $115,000 in funding available for any project that falls within the approved Freeborn County aquatic invasive species plan.

Invasive species are by definition non-native species to an ecosystem that either cause or are likely to cause harm.

Shell Rock River Watershed District Conservation Technician Jared Stricker said the grant can be used to help prevent the spread of invasive species through signage, education, carp barriers and fish barriers, wash stations, studies on how the invasive species affect waters, and chemical applications to get rid of the invasive species.

Stricker said common carp is the main invasive species in Freeborn County, which stirs up bottom sediment, allowing algae to feed on phosphorous to produce more algae.

He said oxygen-depleting algae blooms can then be produced.

“Once we get invasive species, it’s very hard to get rid of them,” Stricker said.

He said invasive species such as carp in Freeborn County negatively affect native species, such as bass, walleye and catfish, by consuming food supplies. He said carp cost the state billions of dollars each year.

Since 2014, the state began giving counties money to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species.

Each county in the state receives funding based on the number of boat launches and how many boat launch spots they have.

Freeborn County Administrator John Kluever said Freeborn County will have received about $138,000 from the grant by the end of 2016.

Freeborn County had a meeting with officials from the Shell Rock River Watershed District and the Department of Natural Resources last month about the funding and how best to prevent the spread of invasive species.

As a result of the meeting, Freeborn County came up with a request for proposal process for the grant funds.

Proposals will be accepted through April 1.

After that deadline, the county will hold an internal ranking process. Based on those rankings, the county will make recommendations to the Freeborn County Board of Commissioners, who will have the final say on which projects get funded.

Kluever said the county’s goal is to have projects approved by July.