U.S. Army Corps of Engineers declared that they will commit $226 million to block carp on the Brandon Road Lock and Dam Project on the Des Plaines River near Joliet, Illinois.
This action represents a major step forward for the $858 million venture to keep Asian carp away from the Great Lakes.
The money comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law recently passed by Congress, and will be utilized to construct numerous technological obstructions such as an air-bubble curtain, an electric barrier, a flushing lock, and an underwater acoustic fish deterrent that aim to prevent non-native species from entering Lake Michigan.
Conservation groups lauded the Corps’ move as pivotal to keeping the endeavor on track.
Molly Flanagan of the Alliance for the Great Lakes underscored that $226 million is the total amount of federal financing needed to conclude preconstruction, engineering, and design for the project.
An epochal step forward for this urgently required initiative to introduce a network of sophisticated technologies to the waterway that will ward off predatory carp from entering Lake Michigan.
Marc Smith, policy director for the National Wildlife Federation, contended it symbolizes a major payment” on Great Lakes protection and is “the most clear-cut and resolute signal” that this multi-year enterprise will progress.
The Brandon Road Lock and Dam is a pinch point located 50 miles downstream from Lake Michigan, and is seen as an ideal site to hinder the progress of bighead, silver, and black carp.
The Corp of Engineers has put forward a plan that integrates structural and experimental technological barriers in order to keep the invasive species out of the Great Lakes.
One such proposal entails an acoustic deterrent system which utilizes underwater speakers that broadcast sounds designed to annoy and drive away Asian carp.
This technology has been recently implemented at Mississippi River Lock and Dam 19 between Keokuk, Iowa, and Hamilton, Illinois for research conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Corps.
If results suggest it is effective in deterring carps’ movements then it may be used at Brandon Road to keep these fish from interloping into native habitats as they eat copious amounts of food and reproduce at high rates, thereby upsetting already existing ecosystems.
Members of the Great Lakes region have shown a great deal of support for this project, with the states contributing about 20 percent towards costs.
In December 2021, governors from Wisconsin, Ohio, New York, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan and Pennsylvania sent a joint letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure urging for full funding.
The letter presented the project as “a national priority,” highlighting the risk posed to commercial and sport fishing industry worth $7 billion as well as recreational boating industry worth $15 billion by invasive species like carp.
Flanagan told the Chicago Tribune that the recently announced funding should make the transition from design to construction easier, as construction will take several years and not be completed until 2030 at the earliest.
As a result, things will move faster, which increases the chances of us building this project before carp reach the Great Lakes, she said.
