Task force wants to ensure Asian carp study stays on track

Members of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force have sent a letter to the Acting Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Army (Civil Works) Ryan A. Fisher highlighting the importance of finalizing a plan aimed at keeping Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes.

Scientists have said the invasive species could devastates the region’s multibillion dollar fishing industry if they reach the Great Lakes.

The Brandon Road Lock and Dam Study is seen by the senators as a critical piece to stopping Asian carp from reaching the lakes.

The tentative plan originally was slated to be released in February 2017, but was delayed by the Trump administration and eventually released in August.

The study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers analyzes options for upgrading the Brandon Road Lock and Dam near Joliet, a complex on the Des Plaines River southwest of Chicago that is considered a bottleneck where defenses could be strengthened to prevent carp populations in the Mississippi River watershed from migrating into Lake Michigan.

The report proposes a $275 million array of technological and structural upgrades at the crucial site.

In its Nov. 27 letter, the senate task force stresses that it is imperative for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to meet the original January 2019 timeline for completing the Chief’s Report.

“Despite the six-month delay in the release of the (tentative report), we fully expect the (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) to complete its Chief’s Report by January 2019,” the task force stated in its letter.

Both of Ohio’s U.S. Senators — Democrat Sherrod Brown and Republican Rob Portman — are members of the task force and among the signees of the letter.

The task force also asks for an update on the timeline for the completion of the Chief’s Report.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has indicated that implementing the recommended measures in the plan is unlikely before 2025. The task force members said that timeline is “particularly concerning, given recent findings that demonstrated new ways for Asian carp to enter the Great Lakes.”

“Field studies conducted in recent years by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that small fish — including Asian carp — can become entrained between barges and transported safely through the electric dispersal barriers near Romeoville, Illinois — located approximately 25 miles from Lake Michigan,” the task force stated.

In June, an 8-pound silver carp made its way up the Illinois River, past the Brandon Road Lock and Dam and was found above the electric barrier and nine miles from Lake Michigan.

The Brandon Road study has received some pushback from elected officials and business leaders in Illinois and Indiana, who have argued that significant changes to the Brandon Road complex could hamper cargo shipment on the busy waterway.

“While waterway shipping is important to the economies of the Great Lakes states, it is also essential that we prevent the devastating impacts that would occur if Asian Carp invade the Great Lakes,” the Great Lakes Task Force stated. “Studies have shown those impacts would include declines in native fish species and a one-third reduction of total fish weight in Lake Erie. This threatens the Great Lakes’ world-class $7 billion/year fishing industry, $16 billion/year recreational boating industry, and the hundreds of thousands of jobs these industries support.”

The report proposes a $275 million array of technological and structural upgrades at the crucial site.