ROCKDALE, Ill. – The Army Corps of Engineers agreed to design stronger barriers on the Des Plaines River to keep invasive Asian carp out of the Great Lakes. The barriers, at Brandon Road Lock and Dam 27 miles southwest of Chicago, include underwater speakers that would blast loud noises to deter carp from moving upstream to Lake Michigan. So too, theoretically, would air bubble curtains. A “flushing lock” would wash away carp on vessels passing through. Design and engineering will take three to four years and cost about $28.8 million. The Corps will pay $18 million. Michigan and Illinois will chip in the rest. Environmentalists have been concerned that an array of low-tech existing barriers are insufficient. At stake, according to the National Wildlife Federation’s policy director, Marc Smith, are fisheries, tourism and outdoor recreation economies, and “a way of life across the region.”
Choke point. Brandon Road Lock and Dam has stopped the invasive carp from reaching Lake Michigan.
Carp invasion
Asian carp were imported from Asia in the 1960s to clear algae from Deep South sewage ponds and fish farms. Some escaped and moved north into dozens of Mississippi tributaries deep in the nation’s interior. The carp have voracious appetites and turn mean when riled. They can fling themselves 10 feet into the air en masse. Some weigh 30 pounds. Boaters have been cut by their fins. There have been black eyes, broken bones, back injuries, and concussions. Carp appetites and reproduction rates threaten native fish species.