It appears the much promised Armageddon over water rights will be showcased as a result of the Asian Carp migration, and the respective legal teams will include eight or nine US states and at least one foreign government.

The New York Times is running a short piece describing the long list of participants, and the longer list of injunctions…

In an urgent effort to close down Chicago-area passages that could allow the unwanted fish to reach Lake Michigan, the State of Michigan is suing the State of Illinois and other entities that govern the waterways here. Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin have filed documents in recent days supporting Michigan’s move, and Indiana says it will soon do the same. 

… and the experts claimed it was the Colorado River that would touch off the festivities, only their predictions didn’t include a voracious bottom scavenging silver missile that maimed water skiers.

Mr. Cox, a Republican who is running for governor of Michigan this year, said hundreds of thousands of jobs in his state depended on Lake Michigan, and in December he filed a lawsuit.

… and a gubernatorial race hanging in the balance would lend a sense of urgency. Nothing quite like accusing the other fellow of liking fish – then somehow linking it all to Al Qaeda.

“Dammit, Bob. How can you look these good citizens in the face when your daughter keeps Goldfish by her bed?”

“… but …”

“… and you knew they were Carp when you bought them, didn’t you?”

I’d keep a weather eye on this case where possible. The courts will act much too slow to effect real change. The Carp will scream into the Great Lakes like biscuits love butter, and we’ll be treated to a decade or two of legal fallout.

Tags: Great Lakes carp invasion, bighead carp, Asian silver carp, fishing, gubernatorial election, Army Corp of Engineers, Colorado River, water rights