SR0779 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0779 LRB096 22022 KXB 40350 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The flow of the Chicago River into Lake Michigan was reversed one hundred years ago to protect the safety of drinking water for the Chicago region and to facilitate navigation and commerce through a series of locks and canals; and

WHEREAS, In 2008, the Port of Chicago in the Chicago Area Waterway System was ranked 6th in the United States for exports to other countries by the United States Commerce Department; and

WHEREAS, The Chicago region's five biggest exports were chemicals ($6.1 billion), computers and electronic products ($5.2 billion), non-electrical machinery ($3.4 billion), transportation equipment ($3.2 billion), and electrical equipment, appliances, and components ($1.7 billion); and

WHEREAS, A 2007 study commissioned by the Illinois Chamber of Commerce estimated that $29 billion worth of petroleum, chemicals, building materials, farm products, coal, and other products and raw materials travel through the Chicago area locks and canals annually; and

WHEREAS, The continued operation of Chicago's system of locks and canals are vital to ensure its continued status as the strategic transportation hub of the Midwest; and

WHEREAS, The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources have enacted several steps to prevent Asian carp from entering Lake Michigan, including creating an electronic barrier, eDNA testing, and a fish kill in December of 2009; and

WHEREAS, Litigation has been pursued by Great Lakes states to order the closure of the locks and canals to try and prevent Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes; and

WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court has rejected the preliminary injunction to close the Chicago Area Waterway Systems' locks and canals; and

WHEREAS, The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has proposed a schedule of lock closures and even a permanent closure of the locks as one possible solution to the problem of Asian carp; and

WHEREAS, Closing the locks would overwhelm the Chicago Metropolitan Water Reclamation District tunnel system and cause massive flooding, affecting more than 3 million people and 1.4 million structures in Chicago and 51 surrounding suburbs; and

WHEREAS, It is estimated that closing the locks would also increase shipping costs for the Illinois agricultural community by more than a half-billion dollars a year; and

WHEREAS, At a White House "Carp Summit" of the Great Lakes states, United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) presented a plan to prevent Asian carp from entering Lake Michigan, outlining several scenarios including opening the locks less frequently, testing, and more electronic barriers; and

WHEREAS, The White House is allocating $78.5 million campaign to prevent the Asian carp from gaining access to the Great Lakes; the strategy will call for modifying the lock operations in the Chicago Area Waterway systems; and

WHEREAS, Even the temporary interruption of lock traffic would be absolutely devastating to our local, State, and national economy; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the United States Army Corps of Engineers to seek alternatives to the closure of the Chicago Area Waterway systems of locks and canals that would not impede commerce.