Construction to begin on long-sought project to keep invasive carp out of the Great Lakes

Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Construction on the Brandon Road Interbasin Project is expected to begin in early 2025, thanks to a Project Partnership Agreement reached in July 2024 between two states and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This project has been identified as a “critical pinch point” for keeping invasive carp and other aquatic nuisance species from reaching the Great Lakes.

The Corps awarded the first contract for site preparation in late 2024; a groundbreaking was expected in February.

Once the project is complete, a mix of new deterrents to stop fish movement will be in place at this site along the Illinois Waterway — including a new electric barrier, underwater sound, an air bubble curtain and a flushing lock in a newly engineered channel.

The project is estimated to cost $1.15 billion. The U.S. Congress increased the federal cost-share of the Brandon Road project to 90 percent, and the full non-federal match is coming from the states of Illinois and Michigan. They partnered to secure the non-federal cost share of $114 million ($64 million from Michigan, $50 million from Illinois), unlocking $274 million in already appropriated federal funds for the first of three construction phases.

Additional congressional appropriations must be made in future fiscal years to complete the project. According to the Army Corps, if established in the Great Lakes, invasive carp could outcompete native species and greatly harm the ecology and economy associated with the region’s $20 billion fishing and boating industries.

The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Legislative Caucus has long supported the Brandon Road Interbasin Project and advocated for funding of it. View caucus resolutions and letters of support here. The Midwestern Office of The Council of State Governments provides staff support to the caucus, a binational, nonpartisan group of legislators from the Great Lakes states and provinces.