Under bills
introduced in the House and Senate, federal agencies would be ordered to
focus interim efforts on the Brandon Road Lock and Dam in Joliet,
Illinois, while the debate continues over how to permanently halt aquatic
species from moving between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River systems.
"After years of
study, we must begin making tangible progress to safeguard the Great Lakes
ecosystem and the $7 billion economy it supports," said Rep. Dave Camp, a
Michigan Republican and bill sponsor. Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan
Democrat, introduced the measure in the Senate.
The Brandon Road
site is about 5 miles downstream from electric barriers in a shipping
canal that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers now depends on to prevent the
two aggressive carp species from reaching Lake Michigan, where scientists
say they could starve out native fish and eventually spread to the other
Great Lakes.
Supporters of the
legislation describe Brandon Road as a "choke point" where the carp's path
could be blocked. The corps said last month that it would consider adding
electric barriers to the site's lock and dam complex and testing new
technologies there, such as special gates or air cannons.
It also could be
the location of a new type of lock where treated water would be used to
cleanse vessels of floating plants, spores and fish eggs.
The Great Lakes
Commission, which represents the eight states and two Canadian provinces
that surround the lakes, endorsed the bills and said the proposed changes
would not hamper barge and recreational boat traffic on the busy waterway.
"This is
important work that will develop solutions that can be applied elsewhere
in the Chicago waterway system — and throughout the Great Lakes and the
nation as a whole — to prevent damaging aquatic species from expanding
into other water bodies," said Jon Allan, the commission's vice chairman
and director of the Michigan Office of the Great Lakes.
The bills also
would require a stepped-up search for a permanent solution, an issue that
has divided the region. Most of the states favor using dams or other
structures to wall off the Great Lakes from the Mississippi drainage
basin. Illinois and Indiana contend that would damage the local economies
and cause flooding.