The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District, and the states of Michigan and Illinois signed a partnership agreement in early July for the Brandon Road Interbasin Project, moving the facility into the construction phase. The agreement provides $274 million in federal funding, including $224 million provided by the bipartisan infrastructure law and $114 million in state funding. The funds will be used for the construction of infrastructure to prevent the upstream movement of Asian carp and other nuisance species into the Great Lakes.
“The USACE Rock Island District has been working diligently with our partners in the states of Illinois and Michigan to move this critical project forward,” Rock Island District Commander, Col. Aaron Williams, said in a statement. “We are excited to be entering this next phase of the project and are committed to preventing the upstream movement of invasive carp and other aquatic nuisance species into the Great Lakes.”
Brandon Road Lock and Dam near Joliet, Ill., has been identified as the pinch point where layered technologies could be used to stop invasive carp populations from moving into the Great Lakes. If they become established in the Great Lakes, invasive carp could outcompete native species and greatly harm the ecosystems of the entire Great Lakes region, as well as the $20 billion fishing and boating industries they support. The project will implement a series of deterrents at the Brandon Rock Lock and Dam site to prevent upstream movement of invasive carp and other aquatic nuisance species on the Illinois waterway.
“Our multi-agency team of scientists and engineers has worked tirelessly over the last three years in combination with external stakeholders to design what we believe is an effective solution for protecting the Great Lakes watershed,” said Scott Whitney, BRIP project manager at the USACE Rock Island District, in the statement.
