Decades after a Florida canal project was abandoned, advocates are trying to reunite 2 rivers
PALATKA, Fla. (AP) — It was supposed to be Florida’s version of the Panama Canal; a shortcut for boats to cross the middle of the state from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf rather than going around the peninsula. However, work on the Cross Florida Barge Canal was halted in 1971 due to environmental concerns.
Since then, a dam and reservoir built for the canceled canal in northeast Florida has flooded a large portion of the Ocala National Forest, submerging 20 springs and some disrupting wildlife passage. migrating manatees.
Every two years, when government workers drain the reservoir to remove mud, lost springs reappear and cypress saplings begin to grow on previously submerged land. Over the course of several months, the area returns to its natural state.
The last drawdown of Rodman Reservoir, the first in six years, began in October and ended in early March. But environmentalists are pushing to permanently open the 2,200-foot Kirkpatrick Dam and move St. They want to reconnect the St. Johns and Ocklawaha rivers with Silver Springs, one of the largest resource systems in the United States.
“With dam removal“We’re going to reconnect the waters,” said Nina Bhattacharyya, executive director of Florida Environmental Defenders. “We’re going to reintroduce resources. Wildlife will be able to move back and forth; migratory fish, manatees and so much more. Removing the dam will truly right a wrong that was done decades ago.”
A legal setback and a promise to continue the fight
The latest effort to make that happen, after decades of efforts, failed last week when lawmakers failed to pass a bill before the end of the legislative session that would have supported a $70 million project to rebuild the Ocklawaha River with the dam opening within four years.
Advocates for restoring the river said they plan to regroup and determine the best strategy to move forward, but remain optimistic considering how close they’ve come. The bill had passed the Florida House and was awaiting a Senate vote before the session ended last week.
“Although the bill did not receive a final vote in the Senate this session, the strong bipartisan support it gained reflects the growing momentum for restoration,” Bhattacharyya said in a statement Monday. he said.
During the retreat, 9,500 acres (3,844 hectares) of formerly submerged land become visible. Bear and deer tracks can be seen. Wild turkeys and sandhill cranes are returning to parched lands. Thousands of drowned and ghostly cypress, palm and maple trunks reveal themselves with drops of water.
“This place is haunting, like a graveyard,” charter boat captain Karen Chadwick said recently as she maneuvered her boat among rotting, graying tree trunks sticking out of the water.
There are also concerns about the safety of the dam, which has expired. Proponents of opening the dam say a structural collapse could endanger hundreds of nearby homes.
“Maybe next year, maybe something will happen in a few years,” Republican state Sen. Jason Brodeur, the bill’s sponsor, said at a committee hearing last month. “Something needs to be done.”
‘This system is a national treasure’
Nature filmmaker Mark Emery recently told Florida lawmakers that the Ocklawaha River is unique because it was historically fed by the extensive Silver Springs system. But large schools of mullet and catfish have disappeared from Silver Springs since the dam blocked the river’s flow and reduced the number of fish entering the springs, he said.
“This system is a national treasure,” Emery said. “Hundreds of millions of gallons of fresh water feed and cool the river. Before the dam, you had a direct waterway to the ocean with small springs along the way.”
Some angling groups oppose anything that would permanently drain Rodman Reservoir, saying it has become a world-class fishing spot and supports the local economy of largemouth bass fishing, camping and bird watching in rural Putnam County, which is among the poorest counties in Florida. Supporters of draining the reservoir say it will remain an outdoor paradise for as long, if not longer.
Additionally, the reservoir reduces nutrient levels in the water and can simultaneously be used as an alternative water source. When Florida’s population growsSteve Miller, president of Save Rodman Reservoir, told lawmakers in February.
“There is a bigger picture than what is being shown,” Miller said at the legislative hearing. “Don’t gamble on speculative outcomes.”
Fixing misguided projects
Putnam County Commissioner Joshua Alexander said that although building the dam was a mistake, local residents made the best of the situation by creating outdoorsy businesses.
“We made chicken salad out of chicken,” Alexander told lawmakers. “We are not a rich economy and I believe this will affect our economy.”
The restoration of the Ocklawaha River would be part of a long history in Florida of restoring the natural environment degraded by a misguided public works project.
everglades The wetland network in South Florida had been reduced to half its size by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers water supply and flood control projects before a multibillion-dollar effort to restore the wetland network was launched at the beginning of this century. Similarly, the corps dredged and channeled the Kissimmee River in the 1960s to reduce flooding in the state’s interior, but ended up upsetting the floodplain’s bird and fish ecosystems. Restoration work on the river began twenty years ago and was completed in 2021.
“Nature is very resilient, if you just get out of the way and let it do its thing,” Chadwick said. he said.
___
Follow Mike Schneider on Bluesky social platform: @mikeysid.bsky.social.
___
The Associated Press’s climate and environment coverage receives funding from many private organizations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find APs standards for working with philanthropists, a list of supporters and areas of funded coverage AP.org.
