The Army Corps of Engineers is taking further efforts to stop the spread of invasive carp in Illinois waterways and lakes.

The Brandon Road Interbasin Project is designed to prevent invasive carp from leaving the Illinois and Des Plaines Rivers and moving into Lake Michigan and other nearby bodies of water. The project could take six to eight years and would cost more than $1.4 billion for barricades alone. Sound blasts, an electrical barrier, a flushing lock, and a bubble wall are all different steps in the project plan.

The carp first became a problem in the 1990s when the fish were able to enter the Illinois River. Today, the Illinois River has more carp per capita than any other waterway in the world.

These fish have the potential to disrupt and obliterate the natural food chain in the Great Lakes if they make it into Lake Michigan. This would affect many related businesses in the commercial and recreational fishing economy of the Great Lakes, which totals $7 billion per year.