In fight to keep invasive carp from the Great Lakes, Pritzker, Army Corps at impasse on building a barrier

In an effort to keep invasive carp from spreading to the Great Lakes, the states of Illinois and Michigan and the Army Corps of Engineers need to sign an agreement — but for months have been locked in a stalemate over what comes next.

Illinois wants a better deal that would leave the door open for more federal funding and an incremental construction process, records show.

“While the federal government has determined this project is of the highest priority, the taxpayers of Illinois and Michigan should not be the only states to carry the burden of the non-federal share of funding when the entire Great Lakes region will certainly experience the devastating impact of inaction,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker wrote to the Army.

The Brandon Road Interbasin Project is seen as the $1 billion-plus answer to a decades-long concern that the invasive carp could use the Illinois River to escape the Mississippi River Basin and enter the Great Lakes, where the fish could upend the freshwater ecosystem and lake economy.

Experts say the carp threaten to destabilize recreational and marine industries that turned the region into the economic powerhouse it is today.

The BRIP is the Army Corps’ state-of-the-art barricade going into the Des Plaines River near Joliet about 50 miles downstream of Chicago. The cost is expected to be upwards of $1.14 billion. Illinois taxpayers could be on the hook for operational costs for years to come.

The plan is for the federal government will pay for 90% of the costs of the project and Illinois and Michigan to cover the remaining 10%. To date, Illinois has committed $50 million in funding, but Pritzker is wary of overcommitting, according to his letter and a spokesperson for the governor.

“It would be irresponsible to write a blank check to the Corps of Engineers or any other project manager without having a better understanding of what we’re agreeing to for the long term,” according to the spokesperson.

Michael Connor, the Army’s assistant secretary for civil works, said he’ll “respond directly to the governor soon as we look for the best approach to make use of the resources we have on hand to move the Brandon Road Interbasin Project forward.”

The Army Corps “does not have a precedent of executing incremental” agreements, according to a spokesperson.

The agreement the governor’s letter proposes would immediately release $226 million in federal funds to begin initial construction and design work — funding that’s been on hold since 2022. Congressional lawmakers haven’t appropriated the remaining balance.

According to the governor’s office, Pritzker’s approach would expedite the project by allowing it to proceed in stages and place invasive carp deterrents as soon as possible while the state and the corps discuss remaining concerns.

The state will be responsible for the cost of operation and maintenance in perpetuity — the total cost isn’t known. Illinois now spends about $15 million a year to operate its existing electric barrier.

Another sticking point is property near the BRIP site that the Army Corps is counting on Illinois to buy. But findings in an ongoing case before the Illinois Pollution Control Board point to coal-ash contamination at the site. The scope and cost of the required remediation aren’t known, according to the governor’s office.