Carp Czar (a.k.a. Durbin’s Folly)

As I’ve written previously, the Asian carp situation is a complex one involving numerous stakeholders with very conflicting interests. But everyone seems to agree on one thing:

It’s a good idea to prevent the Asian carp population from entering Lake Michigan via the Illinois and Chicago river systems.

And in this regard, several entities (including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Environmental Protection Agency, Illinois Department of Natural Resources) are already working very closely with each other and coordinating their efforts to do just this – and they have been for quite some time.

Which is why I can’t understand Senator Dick Durbin’s request to have the President appoint a “carp czar” to oversee these existing efforts.

But what really illustrates Senator Durbin’s naïveté is the following excerpt from the article:

Durbin said he plans to introduce a bill next week that will ask the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to look at “hydrologic separation” between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River, a potentially massive engineering feat that would require severing the 100-year-old, man-made shipping corridors that now link the two waterways. Durbin expects the Army Corps to deliver its report within 18 months.[ed. – emphasis mine]

First, the ACOE (along with every other stakeholder) has already explored this option quite extensively. Their current focus is on reducing or eliminating the immediate threat.

Second, while hydrological separation would certainly solve the problem, it is both a long term – and a long shot – option. Why?

Because it’s a 110-year ongoing project that cannot be reversed overnight.

If Senator Durbin had bothered to attend any of the previous subject matter hearings, he would already know that. And he would also know that there are already many various stakeholders conducting a highly organized and cooperative effort the keep the invasive species out of Lake Michigan.

It’s just that fighting against the limitless energy of Nature is often a losing battle…