IL SR0169

Urges the United States Army Corps of Engineers to seek alternatives to closing the Chicago Area Waterway System's locks and canals while preventing Asian carp from entering Lake Michigan.

Notes that the Port of Chicago ranked 6th nationally for exports in 2008, with $29 billion in annual cargo (petroleum, chemicals, building materials, farm products, coal) flowing through the waterway system.

Closing the locks would cause massive flooding affecting more than 3 million people and 1.4 million structures in Chicago and 51 surrounding suburbs, and increase agricultural shipping costs by over $500 million annually.

Identifies that a single barge replaces approximately 144 semi-trailer trucks or 46 rail cars, with no viable alternative to reroute the equivalent of 571,000 truckloads of cargo that currently use the waterway annually.

Notes the White House allocated $78.5 million for Asian carp prevention through modified lock operations, electronic barriers, testing, and other measures as alternatives to closure.