SCR7, As Adopted by Senate, March 22, 2017

            Senators Proos, Jones, Schuitmaker, Marleau, Nofs, Rocca, Knollenberg, Hildenbrand, MacGregor, Green, Booher, Hansen, Hertel, Zorn and Emmons offered the following concurrent resolution:

            Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 7.

            A concurrent resolution to support the recommendations of the Chicago Area Waterway System Advisory Committee to prevent Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes.

            Whereas, The Chicago area waterway system serves as a pathway for aquatic invasive species to move between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins. Zebra mussels and other species spread from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River and its tributaries through this man-made connection. Now, Asian carp are on the brink of using this same route to invade the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River basin; and

            Whereas, Juvenile Asian carp continue to migrate upstream and are now within a day's swim of Lake Michigan. In the last few years, juvenile Asian carp have moved 90 miles closer to Lake Michigan, leaving them only 47 miles from the Great Lakes. While electrical barriers currently stand in their way, research indicates that those barriers may not be effective at stopping small fish; and

            Whereas, The impacts of Asian carp to the ecosystems and economies of the Great Lakes states and local communities will be catastrophic. Invasive species established in the Great Lakes already cost the region more than $100 million per year. Asian carp could add dramatically to this cost if they move through the Chicago area into the Great Lakes. These carp are voracious filter feeders and could out-compete the native fish of the Great Lakes, threatening a $7 billion sport and commercial fishery. History has demonstrated that, once established, aquatic invasive species like Asian carp are nearly impossible to eradicate; and

            Whereas, The Chicago Area Waterway System Advisory Committee was formed in May 2014 with the goal of reaching consensus on a set of recommendations for elected and appointed local, state, and federal officials and the public on short- and long-term measures to prevent Asian carp and other aquatic invasive species from moving between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins through the Chicago area waterway system; and

            Whereas, The diverse, 32-member advisory committee reached consensus in a letter to the President of the United States on a specific system of control points to prevent the two-way interbasin transfer of aquatic invasive species. It also reached consensus on supporting immediate actions at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam in Joliet, Illinois, to prevent the risk of Asian carp from migrating upstream while the system of control points is evaluated as a long-term solution for all aquatic invasive species; and

            Whereas, The best long-term solution will prevent Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes while preserving as much as possible the current uses of the Chicago area waterways. Options that would change shipping on these waterways should only be pursued after all other options have been exhausted; and

            Whereas, The costs of preventing Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes are substantially lower than the costs to the ecosystems and economies of the Great Lakes states if Asian carp were to become established; now, therefore, be it

            Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That we support the Chicago Area Waterway System Advisory Committee recommendations to implement immediate control technologies at Brandon Road Lock and Dam in Joliet, Illinois, and to further investigate the specific system of control points for long-term movement of aquatic invasive species into and out of the Great Lakes; and be it further

            Resolved, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the members of the Michigan congressional delegation, and the Commanding General and Chief of Engineers of the United States Army Corps of Engineers.