U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI), co-chair of the Great Lakes Task Force, last week highlighted the negative impacts of invasive Asian carp and erosion on the nation’s Great Lakes region during testimony on Capitol Hill.
“Asian carp and other invasive species are on the doorstep of infiltrating the Great Lakes system,” Rep. Huizenga told his colleagues on Feb. 27 during a members’ day hearing held by the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee on proposals for the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2020. “Congress needs to make protecting and preserving the Great Lakes a national priority,” he said.
The congressman testified that the introduction of non-native species to the Great Lakes is currently one of the greatest economic and environmental threats to the region.
“The preventative measures we currently have in place are only temporary solutions, as Asian carp have been found only a few miles from Lake Michigan,” he said.
Rep. Huizenga requested that federal funding be provided in the WRDA to authorize the completion of the Brandon Road Lock and Dam in Joliet, Ill., which he said has been identified as the key chokepoint in safeguarding the Great Lakes ecosystem and economy.
“The timely completion of the work at Brandon Road is an essential next step in the process to safeguard the Great Lakes region, which provides drinking water to over 30 million people and supports a $7 billion fishing and $16 billion boating industry,” he said. “We have a small but critical window of opportunity to prevent the upstream transfer of this species.”
Regarding erosion, Rep. Huizenga said that, coupled with high-water damage, the situation is at a crisis point throughout the Great Lakes region.
“In my district, along the shores of Lake Michigan, the high-water levels are a threat to people’s homes, public infrastructure and the overall ecology and economy of the Great Lakes,” he testified. “Government at all levels must be prepared to step in.”
Furthermore, said the lawmaker, the amount of debris that has fallen into the lakes as a result of the erosion also poses a significant threat to shipping, public beaches and recreational boating.
“As the committee develops the Water Resources Development Act of 2020, I urge the members to include provisions that would protect and restore the resiliency of the Great Lakes shoreline for today, tomorrow and generations to come,” said Rep. Huizenga.