Milwaukee Riverkeeper is part of a coalition of organizations pushing to have the Chicago locks closed to prevent the spread of the invasive Asian Carp into the Great Lakes.

The carp is known to grow up to four feet long and over 100 pounds, devastating native species.

[excerpted from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel]

Wisconsin and four other Great Lakes states filed a lawsuit Monday against the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago to force changes on the Chicago River to halt the advance of the Asian carp into Lake Michigan.

The federal suit, which also names the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a defendant, asks the court to immediately order shut two lakeside navigation locks except in emergency situations, such as big storms when the locks are opened as a safety valve to prevent flooding in the Chicago area.

The lawsuit seeks more poisoning and netting programs for Asian carp that may have already breached the electric barrier on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, which is about 35 miles downstream from the Lake Michigan shoreline.

The suit also demands that the Corps fast-track a study looking at options for reconstructing the separation between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River basin that the Chicago canals destroyed over a century ago.

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