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Dive brief:
- The States of Michigan and Illinois signed an agreement with the US Army Corps of Engineers for the construction of the Cosponsor $1.15 billion Brandon Road Interbasin Projectthat will prevent invasive carp and other aquatic nuisance species from entering the Great Lakes, according to a July 1 news release from Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office.
- As part of the agreement, the project will receive $274 million in federal and $114 million in state funding for the first of three phases of work, according to the release. Work will focus around the Brandon Road lock and dam near Joliet, Illinois, which is a critical pinch point to prevent invasive fish from moving into the Great Lakes.
- as work move towards the construction phaseContracts for manufacturing, continued design, downsizing deterrents and base withdrawal are slated for solicitation in the coming weeks, according to the USACE’s Rock Island District.
Diving knowledge:
The USACE said that if left untagged, the carp could outcompete native species and greatly harm ecosystems throughout the Great Lakes region and its more than $20 billion fishing and boating industries.
“We are excited to enter this next phase of the project and are committed to preventing the upward movement of invasive carp and other aquatic nuisance species in the Great Lakes,” said Col. Aaron Williams, the Rock Island District Commander for to USACE, to USACE, to the The news release.
Michigan and other Great Lakes states have been working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on this project since 2011, the governor’s office wrote.
The Brandon Road Interbasin project will create structural and non-structural deterrents for invasive species to deter them from moving upstream, According to the USACE page. Structural measures include technologies such as a float lock, which is a channel designed with an electric barrier, the underwater acoustic deterrent, the air bubble curtain and an automated boat deterrent.
Non-structural measures focus on the people who use the Great Lakes. These steps include public education and outreach, integrated pest management, pesticides, and manual or mechanical removal.
“Today’s agreement will help us get shovels on the ground as soon as possible on the critical Brandon Road project,” Whitmer said in his office’s release.
