It’s been 24 years since Asian carp were found in the upper Illinois River.
Ever since, scientists and environmental groups have been pushing for a way to stop the voracious invasive fish from penetrating Lake Michigan.
A year ago, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finally started construction on a series of barriers of the Brandon Road Interbasin Project near Joliet.
But the Trump administration abruptly stopped work this July without explanation. Joel Brammeier with the Alliance for the Great Lakes says reactions came swiftly.
"Everybody from members of Congress all the way down to individual residents were communicating to the court, to the White House, asking 'What the heck is going on? Get people back to work.' When you've got governors, members of Congress, mayors, environmental groups, voters, anglers, all saying the same thing, that's pretty powerful," Brammeier says.
Then, several hundred juvenile carp were found in the Illinois River, 80 miles from Lake Michigan. That's the closest they’ve ever been detected.
On Sept. 3, the Army Corps of Engineers announced that work on the barriers would resume.
"There was a letter sent by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to the Wisconsin company (J.F.) Brennan (Company, Inc.) that is running that phase of the project, telling them they could start work again. They have been pulled off the job at the end of July, and so it's been about six weeks, but now the Corps has said that they can start work again. So that should mean the figurative shovel's in the ground...and now the Brandon Road project can move forward again," Brammeier says.
Brammeier says Asian carp pose a tremendous threat to the Great Lakes, including its $16 billion recreational boating industry.
"They can breed and eat better than our native fish," he explains. "So that means that they can come into an ecosystem, they can eat up all the food, they can have millions of eggs laid in a year, and quickly take over our lakes, rivers, inland waters. And you've seen this happen on the Mississippi and Illinois River where the populations of silver and bighead carp have basically just destroyed the populations."
The Brandon Road project , which is being constructed in increments, represents years of negotiations and compromise. Brammeier says they can't afford any more delays.
"Great Lakers understand the risks, and they want us to do as much as we can to stop a new invasion from coming, especially when we can already see it coming," Brammeier says.
