Illinois presses pause on ‘critical’ invasive
carp project, cites federal funding concerns

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Progress on the Brandon Road Lock and Dam is once again at a stalemate, and several local lawmakers are calling on state officials in Illinois to help end delays for the project.

The House Great Lakes Task Force issued a statement to that effect earlier this week. The task force is comprised of lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, including U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell, D-Ypsilanti, and Bill Huizenga, R-Holland.

“As Co-Chairs of the Great Lakes Task Force, we urge the state of Illinois to promptly sign the necessary documents and end further delays in the critical ecosystem protection construction at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam,” the statement reads. “This project is essential to prevent the spread of invasive carp throughout the Great Lakes. … Failing to do so puts the future of the Great Lakes ecosystem — and the multi-trillion-dollar economy it supports — at serious risk.”

The renovations at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam would prevent invasive carp from making their way from the Chicago Area Waterway System into Lake Michigan. The project has been studied and discussed for more than a decade. Illinois, Michigan and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finally signed a financial agreement last July after years of negotiations.

However, officials in Illinois have once again pressed pause over concerns that President Donald Trump will scale back federal funding.

Beyond Brandon Road: Monitoring 18 other points invasive carp could enter Great Lakes

A spokesperson for Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker told The Detroit News that the governor “agrees this project is critical to the Great Lakes,” but says he is concerned with the White House’s recent trend of slashing federal funding.

Pritzker claims the White House has withheld $117 million in federal grants from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, forcing it to freeze contracts and put nearly 70 other projects on hold.

“Until then, Gov. Pritzker must protect Illinois taxpayers from burdening the liability of the federal government not following through on their promises,” the spokesperson said. “We cannot move forward until the Trump administration provides more certainty and clarity on whether they will follow the law and deliver infrastructure funds we were promised.”

First construction contract awarded on long-awaited $1.1 billion invasive carp project

The project is expected to cost $1.14 billion. The USACE says it is expected to be responsible for $900 million of that, $274 million of which has already been appropriated. Michigan had agreed to contribute $64 million in funding and Illinois would provide $50 million.

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 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 tools in place at upstream from the Brandon Road site to target invasive carp, including a federally-funded electric barrier at Romeoville, Illinois, that costs $15 million each year.

WOOD

‘It will lead to a catastrophe:’ U.S. federal job cuts
will harm the Great Lakes, Canadian scientists say

After the United States government fired hundreds of people at the nation’s weather, ocean and fisheries agency last week, Canadian scientists are warning that this will have “catastrophic” effects on the Great Lakes.

The U.S. Department of Government Efficiency, run by billionaire Elon Musk, cut its latest round of employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including technicians who work with Canadian scientists to monitor water quality and levels in the lakes.

“It’s a mission that takes participation from both sides equally and constantly,” said Jerome Marty, the executive director of the International Association for Great Lakes Research and a professor at the University of Ottawa.

“Everything we do in terms of managing the Great Lakes is binational,” he said. “We don’t do one thing on one side of the border and not on the other. Everything is coordinated.”

Several Canadian and American organizations that study and monitor the Great Lakes work together to compile their findings, said Mike McKay, director of the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research in Windsor, Ont.

“I guess this really speaks to an overreliance that we have on some of NOAA’s programs,” said McKay, whose work relies on a collaboration with U.S. coast guards to collect water quality samples and monitor ice conditions in the lakes.

Scientists also collaborate across the border on Great Lakes research around invasive species, flood control and climate change.

“Where we live in Southwestern Ontario, we’re surrounded by the Great Lakes on three sides – that is our world,” said Lake Huron Coastal Centre co-founder Pat Donnelly, adding that the lakes are a source of drinking water, livelihood and recreation for many.

Water safety, fisheries most affected by cuts

With fewer American scientists, Marty said this will cause two main problems for the Great Lakes: less tracking of blue-green algae and a proliferation of sea lampreys.

Blue-green algae blooms pop up in parts of the Great Lakes every spring, said Marty, and they can become toxic to humans and animals who touch or drink the water.

Researchers in the U.S. and Canada work together to monitor algae levels in the lakes to make decisions about limiting access to water at the beach or for drinking.

A man smiles at the camera

They also keep track of sea lampreys, an invasive species that Marty said has harmed over 80 per cent of native fish in some lakes, which in turn affects fisheries. To keep sea lampreys at bay, technicians apply a chemical to streams in the spring to kill their larvae before they can spawn.

“This is not something we do because we think bad things can happen. We do this because bad things have happened already,” said Marty, pointing to a spike in sea lampreys during the pandemic, when researchers were not in the field as frequently.

“There are things we don’t know, but I guarantee that if we pause the monitoring of the Great Lakes and the management that is in place, I am confident that it will lead to a catastrophe and impact humans,” he said.Scientists want more support from both countries

Marty said he wants to see politicians in the U.S. push back against the cuts, especially in municipalities that rely on drinking water from the lakes.

Meanwhile, McKay said he wants to see Canada put forth more funding for Great Lakes management.

“This could be an opportunity for Canada to step up its game,” he said. “I think it follows suit with a lot of other arguments we’re hearing right now about Canada becoming less reliant on the U.S.”

Last year, the federal government pledged $76 million to support 50 projects to restore waterways and coastal areas around the Great Lakes, which McKay said is a good start.

The scientists also emphasize that work on the lakes goes beyond borders.

“The Trump administration is dreaming about walls in the southern border with Mexico, but we can’t have a wall in the Great Lakes,” Marty said.

CBC

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