Bill would require project to block Asian carp spread

A member of Congress proposed legislation Wednesday that would order the federal government to cut off links in Chicago waterways between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River system to protect the Great Lakes from Asian carp and other invasive species.

The bill introduced by Rep. Candice Miller, a Michigan Republican, would authorize the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to construct barriers in rivers and canals that were reconfigured more than a century ago to connect the two giant watersheds. That project boosted waterborne commerce but created a pathway through which fish, mussels and other aquatic animals and plants could stake out new territories and compete with native species.

“That should never have been allowed to happen and certainly would never be allowed today,” Miller said, adding that the linkage also allows vast amounts of Great Lakes water to flow toward the Mississippi. “That must end.”

The linkage has allowed nuisance species such as the round goby and zebra and quagga mussels to escape the Great Lakes and infest the Mississippi and other waterways. But the threat that Asian carp pose to the Great Lakes has intensified the search for answers.

Silver and bighead carp, imported from Asia in the 1970s, have made their way up the Mississippi and its tributaries, including the Illinois River, which leads to Lake Michigan. Scientists say if the voracious carp reach the lakes, they could unravel food webs and threaten the $7 billion fishing industry.

In a report last month, the Army Corps presented eight options for dealing with the problem, two of which included physically separating the two watersheds.

Both carry estimated price tags of at least $15 billion and a 25-year timetable for completion.