Invasive Species: Groups Propose Spending $9.5 Billion To Protect Lakes, Rivers

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Groups representing states and cities in the Great Lakes region on Tuesday proposed spending up to $9.5 billion on a massive engineering project to separate the lakes from the Mississippi River watershed in the Chicago area, describing it as the only sure way to protect both aquatic systems from invasions by destructive species such as Asian carp.

The organizations issued a report suggesting three alternatives for severing an artificial link between the two drainage basins that was constructed more than a century ago. Scientists say it has already provided a pathway for exotic species and is the likeliest route through which menacing carp could reach the lakes, where they could destabilize food webs and threaten a valuable fishing industry.

“We simply can’t afford to risk that,” said Tim Eder, executive director of the Great Lakes Commission, which sponsored the study with the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative. “The Great Lakes have suffered immensely because of invasive species. We have to put a stop to this.”

The report’s release is sure to ramp up pressure on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is conducting its own study of how to close off 18 potential pathways between the two systems, including the Chicago waterways. The corps plans to release its findings in late 2015, a timetable it says is necessary because of the job’s complexity and regulatory requirements. A pending federal lawsuit by five states – Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania – demands quicker action.

“This study shows that hydrological separation is both technically and economically feasible,” said Rep. Dave Camp, a Michigan Republican.