Governor Snyder is pleading with his counterpart in Illinois to join with Michigan and other Great Lakes states and provinces in a partnership to keep Asian carp out of Lake Michigan and beyond. He sent a letter to Governor Bruce Rauner today, noting because it’s a non-federal project, the State of Illinois is the lead agency with jurisdiction, supervision and regulatory permitting authority over the waters of that state. Snyder’s director of strategic policy Angela Ayers tells WSJM News the governor is interested in pursuing a partnership agreement directly with the state of Illinois.
“We’ve been having conversations among the states for awhile now, and wanted to put that into writing to say we are willing to be a partner and willing to commit state funds to the project to help ensure it continues to move forward,” said Ayers.
Michigan has committed up to $8 million in fiscal year 2019 to pay for five years of operations and maintenance activities at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam in Joliet, Illinois. That has been identified by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as the last, best place to build a barrier to keep the invasive carp out of Lake Michigan and prevent them from decimating the $7 billion fishing industry in the Great Lakes.
