Asian Carp and Lake Michigan

Here is an interesting story in the Chicago Tribune (click to read) about reversing the flow of the Chicago River (again, it has been done several times in the past.)  to prevent Asian Carp from getting into Lake Michigan.  Asian Carp have no natural enemies in the Lake and are expected to devastate the fish population if they were to  become established.

I found two things very interesting about this story:
1)  That damming the river (not building a lock, but permanently cutting the river in two) would cost billions of dollars.
2)  That all of the solutions would end navigation from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River.  I guess some entrepreneur could position a marine crane that would pick you up and put you down on the other side - but I wonder if there is enough recreational traffic to make that a viable alternative.

It appears that any solution is still years away so if you are planning to do the "Great Loop" you better get it done.

Only the government could make closing the lock doors and filling a lock with concrete cost billions of dollars!  That is really all they would have to do to cut the river in half...