Funding agreement finally reached for $1.1 billion invasive carp project

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — After years of negotiations, state officials from Michigan and Illinois have entered an agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to fund a major project to keep invasive carp from spreading into the Great Lakes.

The Project Partnership Agreement will build a barrier at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam in Joliet, Illinois, which will prevent the invasive fish from entering the Chicago Area Waterway System while still allowing commercial ships to move through.

“Today’s agreement will help us get shovels in the ground as soon as possible on the critical Brandon Road project,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement . “The Great Lakes are the beating heart of Michigan’s economy, and Brandon Road will help us protect local communities and key industries, including fishing and boating, that support tens of thousands of good-paying jobs.”

The Brandon Road Interbasin Project was first developed in 2019 and is expected to cost about $1.15 billion. The plan “involves a layered system of structural and non-structural control measures” to prevent invasive carp or any other aquatic pest from entering the Great Lakes through the Illinois Waterway, where invasive carp already have an established population.

As of March 2023, Illinois had committed $50 million to the project and Michigan had pledged $64 million. But with only $226 million in federal funds allocated, the project has “been on standby since 2022.” Now, more federal funding, primarily from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill, will be set aside for it.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan, called the news a “big win that will protect the Great Lakes for generations to come. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Michigan, said he was “thrilled that (construction) will soon be underway.”

As costly as the project may be, the threat of invasive carp could cost even more. Invasive carp — formerly known as Asian carp and also called copi — are considered a major threat to the Great Lakes because they could upend the natural ecosystem. They are voracious eaters and would devour the food sources for several popular Great Lakes fish, including walleye and rainbow trout, key players in the region’s billion-dollar fishing industry.

Invasive carp were used as a tool in the 1970s, controlling algae, weed and parasite growth on aquatic farms. But the fish eventually made their way into the Mississippi River basin and now dominate that ecosystem.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has worked with environmental agencies for years to monitor the fish in the Mississippi River basin and ensure they don’t make it to the Great Lakes. The two systems only have one permanent connection point — the Chicago-Area Waterway System.

There are already several tools in place, including an existing electric barrier that costs Illinois taxpayers approximately $15 million each year.

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