Illinois, feds must take steps to keep invasive carp out of Great Lakes

As invasive carp get dangerously close to the Great Lakes, we must go beyond rebranding and fishing. While these efforts are appreciated, prevention is needed to keep this invasive fish out of the Great Lakes. It’s essential that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Illinois move forward with building the Brandon Road Lock and Dam project near Chicago to prevent carp from wreaking ecological and economic havoc on the country’s largest source of fresh water.

Brandon Road is located at the choke point for invasive carp traveling from the Mississippi River Basin into the Great Lakes, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have proposed using innovative technologies there to keep carp out of the lakes, including an acoustic fish deterrent, an air bubble curtain and an electric barrier.

Congress and the Biden administration made important progress earlier this year when they agreed to fund the federal share of the first year of construction of the project. Now it’s Illinois’ turn.

To keep the project moving forward, Illinois first must sign an agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by the end of the year. And funding the construction will require ongoing collaboration between Illinois and the other Great Lakes states. The health of the Great Lakes and our regional economy are at stake — and current and future generations of taxpayers don’t deserve to live with the aftereffects of an invasion we know is coming.

Molly Flanagan, chief operating officer & vice president for programs, Alliance for the Great Lakes