We are investigating the feasibility of employing thermal manipulation, achieved via whole-lake destratification, to extirpate the cold water exotic rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax) from Crystal Lake, WI. We focus here on the engineering implications of raising the hypolimnion water temperture to exceed the thermal range of the rainbow smelt. An energy balance approach was used to determine the timing and duration of mixing efforts to maximize heat gain and minimize loss to the atmosphere. A turbulent kinetic energy balance was used to compare the efficiency, as quantified by buoyancy flux, of three mixing methods: aeration destratification, harmonic aeration, and the GELI method (Read et al. in preparation). Preliminary results from a pilot mixing effort in 2009 indicate the GELI method to be an order of magnitude more efficient as a destratification method, using smaller ariflow and creating a larger spatial extent of mixing, than aeration destratification. Smelt are sensitve to light, food availability and temperature, variables which are all subject to change during a whole-lake manipulation. We intend to use results from the 2009 pilot study to model whole-lake change in response to a mixing effort during the ice free season.