As juvenile invasive carp were found in an Illinois tributary closer than ever before seen to Lake Michigan, work on a barrier system to keep the potentially fishery-wrecking invaders out of the Great Lakes has been stopped by the Trump administration.
The $1.15 billion Brandon Road Interbasin Project is a planned multilayered defense system at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam on the Des Plaines River in Joliet, Illinois, about 40 miles southwest of Lake Michigan. Using electric, acoustic and bubble deterrents, the project — a partnership among the federal government, Illinois and Michigan — aims to protect the Great Lakes from bighead and silver carp and other invasive species that could potentially harm the more than $5.1 billion Great Lakes fishery.
President Donald Trump on May 9, 2025, signed a memorandum ordering his administration to "expeditiously implement the most effective mechanisms, barriers and other measures" to keep invasive Asian carp out of the Great Lakes, following through on a commitment he made to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the Oval Office a month earlier. Federal funding outlays followed, including nearly $114 million awarded for initial construction components.
Work on the project largely stopped in December 2025 as the Trump administration ordered an administrative review. The work resumed this April, as the administration moved authority over the Illinois-based project from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Rock Island, Illinois, District to the corps' Detroit District — a move many perceived as retaliation against Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat and an outspoken Trump critic.
"This transfer will ensure the project progresses in closer coordination with the state of Michigan, which has been a model non-federal sponsor for this project to date," the Army Corps said in an April 9 statement.
Work on the fish barriers was halted again in late July. In a July 30 letter to Army Corps Detroit District Commander Lt. Col. Donald K. Lew, Illinois Department of Natural Resources Interim Director Renee Snow said state officials learned of the latest work stoppage on July 24 − not from federal partners but from associates of a construction contractor working on the project. An Army Corps spokesperson later characterized the work stoppage as another "administrative review" without further explanation.
"The Great Lakes provide drinking water to more than 40 million people and support a $52 billion regional economy," Pritzker said in a July 30 statement. "It's time for the Trump Administration to uphold the federal government's obligations, stop playing political games, and move this project forward."
Free Press messages left with Army Corps Detroit District officials were not returned.
"We are working to understand the reasons construction has been halted on the Brandon Road Interbasin Project for federal administrative review," Michigan Department of Natural Resources spokesman Ed Golder said in response to Free Press messages left with Whitmer's office. "Michigan continues to remain committed to supporting the completion of the project to protect the Great Lakes and inland lakes and streams throughout the basin from invasive carp."
Juvenile carp found farther upstream than before
Bighead, silver, grass and black carp are all native to Asia, and were imported to the southern U.S. in the 1960s and 1970s to control algae blooms in aquaculture facilities, farm ponds and sewage lagoons. Floods and human mismanagement helped the carp escape into the Mississippi River system, where their spread has exploded.
The carp grow fast, eat voraciously and breed prolifically. A single female can produce a million eggs or more, and the fish can grow up to 100 pounds. Scientists believe the invaders would out-compete native species and Michigan's prized sports fish, creating ecological chaos on the Great Lakes. Bighead and silver carp are now within 47 miles of Lake Michigan, according to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission.
Illinois DNR officials on Aug. 14 announced that invasive carp sampling crews that week had removed several hundred small silver carp from the Marseilles Pool of the Illinois River, about 80 miles from Lake Michigan, during routine intensive monitoring of the upper river.
The fish ranged in size from about 4 to 6 inches long, and the discovery marks the first time invasive carp of this size have been found this far upriver since the monitoring program began in 2010.
Congress members, environmental groups urge project resumption
Great Lakes environmental advocacy organizations on Aug. 26, urgently called for construction to resume on the Brandon Road Interbasin Project.
"Invasive carp are a clear and present danger to the Great Lakes environment and economy," said Joel Brammeier, president and CEO of the Chicago-based Alliance for the Great Lakes.
The Great Lakes ecosystem is already under immense stress from invasive species, said Laura Rubin, director of the Ann Arbor-based Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition.
"Invasive carp could pose an even greater threat to the native fish populations that sustain our commercial and sports fisheries," she said. "Now that carp have been detected closer to the Great Lakes watershed than ever, there is no time to waste. The Brandon Road Interbasin Project is our best line of defense, and construction cannot afford delay."
In a July 31 letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Russell T. Vought and Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam R. Telle, a bipartisan group of Great Lakes Region members of Congress, including Michigan's Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell and Republican U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, expressed concern over the work stoppage at the Brandon Road Interbasin Project.
"Any threat to the Great Lakes is a direct threat to the American economy, the more than 3,500 native species of plants and animals within the Great Lakes ecosystem, and the drinking water supply millions rely upon," the Congress members stated.
"Importantly, we appreciate that the President has publicly conveyed his support for this effort numerous times since issuing his May 9, 2025, memorandum titled “Protecting the Great Lakes from Invasive Carp.”Given the strong support for this project from President Trump, its non-Federal sponsors, and the longstanding bipartisan support for its timely construction by Congress, as Co-Chairs of the Congressional Great Lakes Task Force we respectfully urge you to lift the stop-work orders, conclude any additional administration review of BRIP, and release Federal funds through the Army Corps of Engineers without any further delay."
Contact Keith Matheny: kmatheny@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Trump administration halts work to prevent carp chaos in Great Lakes
