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Central Florida Public Media

Florida House approves bill to restore the Ocklawaha River

The northward-flowing Ocklawaha -- which intersects with the Silver River and the St. Johns -- has been blocked in Putnam County since 1968 by a dam that formed the Rodman Reservoir.

Just the house vote. The Senate has not voted yet. And the Governor can always veto it if the Senate passes it like he did last time.

They are supposed to propose a plan….. wonder what plan that would be?

I fish a lot below the dam, closer to St. John’s, i don’t know what they could do that’s it wouldn’t effect Rodman reserve.

May be a dumb question, but does the restoration of the Oklawaha have to mean the end of the Rodman Reservoir? Or would it be some sort of dam utilization strategy that acts as a compromise?

@Hartwood71 Thats the million dollar question. One group wants the d**n completely removed, restore the natural flow.

Another group wants it lower to reduce pressure on the underwater springs and stop lake water from entering the underground water table.

Yet another group…. Wants the dam left alone due to all the people that was bought as watefront property and will left will not so waterfront land.

1 hour ago, GRiver said:

Another group wants it lower to reduce pressure on the underwater springs and stop lake water from entering the underground water table.

More than likely, in my opinion, the dam will eventually be removed because of overwhelming science that Nature knows best and mankind tends to mess up the natural plans... and make things worse in the process. This case of the Rodman reservoir may very well be one of those cases.

The first issue to consider about the rodman project is that it is not a stand alone project.

Let me bring up another case as an example.

Down South of Orlando near Lakeland is the Tenoroc Mines Wildlife management project. The old Coronet phosphate mines were taken over by the state of Florida some 40 years ago to begin their water and biology science research.

One of the first things biologists and scientists noticed in the area was how the Green Swamp was drying up and the Peace river were drying up and disappearing.

But why was this happening? They discovered that humans on the land's surface had changed things to the point of cutting off natural water flow across and through the state of Florida.

This state has at least 29 watershed basins that are all interconnected and interdependent on each other. When man above changes water flow, the basins begin to dry up and our rivers, lakes, ponds, and creeks go with them.

So when Tenoroc was opened up, it is more than a wildlife management area. The reclaimed Tenoroc phosphate mines are a central key junction and water pumping area that is being used to reconnect up at least 5 watershed basins in the area so now the Green Swamp has water flowing back in. The Peace River is now flowing again.

The i-4 interstate constructed from 1959 to 1965 oddly enough began its construction right in the area of the Tenoroc Mines, and it was that section of the new highway that forever cut off 5 watershed basins from each other and much of that water was redirected down into the Kissimmee river and on into Lake Okeechobee- one of Florida's current most polluted bodies of water and the scientists are right now trying to reduce that lake's inflowing nutrient loading as well as filter existing water with no place to go.

So the point of this comment is that we all need to take a look at Florida's bigger picture in terms of water quality, water cleanliness, and correct natural water flows through this state.

Once the Rodman reservoir is considered in its place in context with surrounding watershed basins, it becomes all too clear that natural water flow is now at the top of the list. That alone means the dam has to go.

That dam was to serve private corporate interests who are now long gone and we are all left with a dam that according to the science is causing more harm than good.

One of the rare and little known facts of this Rodman project are the springs mentioned above.

Again, this goes back to water science, but it should be our human priority as we have been slow to learn, but are now catching on and responding more in tune with Nature because of it.

When the Rodman reservoir was constructed there was no consideration of what the reservoir would do to the natural springs in the Ocklawaha river. So this has been an interesting development for science to research.

Going from memory here, but as I recall there are some 25 springs affected by the dam.

When the river is allowed to flow as natural, the water over the springs does not influence spring water flow direction. But as soon as the dam was constructed and water above the river's springs began to rise, this placed pressure on the springs. New water pressure from the above manmade reservoir effectively REVERSED the springs water flow direction.

So now, instead of pure clean water flowing up and out of all those springs, the Rodman Reservoir had now turned those same springs into drains directly into the aquifer that could now carrying deep into the ground surface pollution now mixing into the water. A case of humans poisoning our very source of drinking water. Not too smart really.

The science leans heavily behind restoring natural water flow and eradicating the reservoir forever. That water and area has to be returned back to Nature so it can once again work naturally in tandem with other surrounding watershed basins.

You can't simply unplug these water basins from each other. They all work together naturally. They must remain intact and natural water flowing.

Right now there is an ongoing recovery/restoration projects operated by already existing law called Mitigation banking. This is where the government of the state of Florida interacts with private citizens and businesses towards future development based on water science. And, also reversing or deconstructing old outdated no longer wanted projects like Rodman.

https://floridadep.gov/water/submerged-lands-environmental-resources-coordination/content/mitigation-and-mitigation-banking#:~:text=The%20Florida%20Department%20of%20Environmental%20Protection%20(FDEP),to%20the%20complete%20restoration%20of%20one%20acre.

Mitigation banking is a practice in which an environmental enhancement and preservation project is conducted by a public agency or private entity (“banker”) to provide mitigation for unavoidable wetland impacts within a defined region (mitigation service area). The bank is the site itself, and the currency sold by the banker to the impact permittee is a credit, which represents the wetland ecological value equivalent to the complete restoration of one acre. The number of potential credits permitted for the bank and the credit debits required for impact permits are determined by the permitting agencies.

UMAM is the method of assessment for banks established after Feb. 2, 2004.

Chapter 373.4135, Florida Statutes, states: “Mitigation banks and offsite regional mitigation should emphasize the restoration and enhancement of degraded ecosystems and the preservation of uplands and wetlands as intact ecosystems rather than alteration of landscapes to create wetlands. This is best accomplished through restoration of ecological communities that were historically present.”

The Mitigation Bank Statute, 373.4136, and Mitigation Bank Rule, 62-342, provide the framework for permitting banks. Mitigation banks are authorized by a state permit, issued by either a water management district or the department, and by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a Mitigation Bank Instrument (MBI). The Corps maintains a website for federally approved or under-review wetland mitigation banks called “RIBITS.” The map below represents state-issued mitigation banks. Additional information on rules and procedures related to mitigation banking can be found in our Mitigation Banking Rule and Procedure Synopsis. 

The point is, the Rodman Reservoir is already a part of the recovery/restoration mitigation plan by law. This current proposal is more or less trying to push it along to accomplish removal of the dam sooner rather than later. But it is coming. That dam will be history soon.

Another problem the dam may not survive is that the dam is now outside of its predicted shelf life. Without lots of regular maintenance the dam would have failed before now. So the state is not really interested in spending big bucks on a useless dam that science has already determined needs to go.

"The Rodman Dam (now the Kirkpatrick Dam) was built in 1968 with a designed 50-year service life, meaning it is currently over 8 years past its intended lifespan. As of 2025-2026, the dam is considered to be in an aging, high-hazard condition, prompting intense debate over its removal and restoration of the Ocklawaha River."

Science has already won this one. And the law is moving in that direction as well. The Rodman reservoir will soon be gone!

Hopefully Desantis will veto it.

Rodman reservoir has consistently been one of the premier fishing locations in the state of Florida for multiple years based on the FWC's Trophy catch program started in 2012. It would be a shame to lose it.

He can veto it all he wants to. He is on his way out the door. Incoming new people are mostly going with the science. The snowball is rolling down the hill unstoppable at this point in my opinion. Science has won. Its already on the law books.

For anyone wanting to dive deeper into this ongoing subject...

https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2026/981

CS/CS/HB 981: Tributaries of the St. Johns River

GENERAL BILL by State Affairs Committee ; Natural Resources & Disasters Subcommittee ; Duggan ; (CO-INTRODUCERS) Cross ; Daniels ; Eskamani ; Mooney

"Tributaries of the St. Johns River; Requires DEP to hire project lead to oversee implementation of act, to develop project plan for restoration of Ocklawaha River, & to develop specified outdoor recreation plan; creates Northeast Florida River & Springs Recreation & Economic Development Advisory Council; requires Department of Commerce to develop specified economic development program for Marion & Putnam Counties."

If you read this new act, it goes straight to "implementation of act" to develop a plan for restoration. Its no longer a question or debate over the water science. Now it is all about moving forward and implementing it as soon as possible. Goal number 1 removal of dam.

Here is an older restoration plan that puts the Rodman reservoir back into context with surrounding watersheds:

https://onlinetools.sodapdf.com/document/c7c8e136-00a4-4c5f-9632-a1bf14440b81?ref=sodapdf.com%2Fsodalite&uid=1019209&venid=web-opera&wid=7773

More of the unstoppable water science:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/390798330_Ocklawaha_River_Restoration_Science_and_Economics_Report_Executive_Summary

https://www.floridaspringscouncil.org/free-the-ocklawaha

Breaching the Rodman/Kirkpatrick Dam on the Ocklawaha River would bring back twenty "lost" springs that were drowned by the dam's reservoir over fifty years ago. Ocklawaha Restoration is the most cost-effective springs protection project in Florida. The science is irrefutable, the support is bipartisan, and the plans to restore the river and its ecosystem are ready. 

Three Rivers, Fifty Springs, One Solution: Reunite the Rivers and Restore the Great Florida Riverway

There you have it. Removing the Rodman dam is now a "springs restoration project" too, and watershed restoration project, and restoring 3 rivers and 50 springs project as well.

It is interesting to me that its the water science of interconnectivity and interdependence between all the watersheds around Rodman reservoir that have sealed its fate.

I see right here in this thread are fishermen who wish to keep the Rodman dam intact. But at what cost? And who is going to pay that cost just to keep a part time reservoir intact and ongoing for a small minority of people? That is not going to happen indefinitely.

There is overwhelming support across the state for removal of Rodman dam. Opposition is actually very small now compared to the already ongoing legal movements towards removal.

My personal opinion to keep or remove it is irrelevant in the much larger picture of how best to do this to benefit the most humans and benefit the most nature.

The science is clear. And its a done deal as far as I can tell. Start your countdown clock on dam removal. Current government officials standing in the way are irrelevant as well because this is going to outlive their service in whatever offices they hold. This one may veto it but the next one may not. The science has already won. Case closed really. Now just waiting on construction crews to begin dismantling something that never should have been built in the first place.

Listen to the lyrics of this next song explain the how and why the Rodman dam even came into existence and why and for who. And keep in mind all those people and plans from them 60 years ago is as gone with the wind and as dead as they are leaving us with their unfinished incomplete project to deal with.

Take a listen to a song from Florida about Florida. A live version of the "Rodman Dam" song written, sung and performed by a man who worked on the project building the dam as a young man now making his amends in music form as an old man. He admits in this song how he helped to kill a river and how he regrets it and hopes to live long enough to see the river restored.

If Desantis stands in the way of dam removal, he will be removed, replaced, and the can kicked down the road until someone says yes.

Us fishermen love the dam. We all love the results of the dam in terms of what it can deliver in the way of fishing. The Rodman Reservoir is a consistent producer of some of Florida's biggest bass. No doubt about it.

But to all fishermen who support the dam, we gotta think about and consider the weight of the impact keeping it has on others.

Take the manatee for example. A species slowly going extinct. Since before recorded history manatee swam up and down the Ocklawaha river and could connect up with other rivers and life saving springs when the cold weather hit Florida.

Today those same manatee have to swim miles to reach the dam and then turn back around and swim back out of there because their connection to the St. Johns river is cut off from them and life saving springs are now compromised further endangering manatee's existence.

I think and believe as humans we need to restore to them what they naturally deserve that we have deprived them of in the past, must now be changed in our future.

That dam stands in the way.

Support to remove it is increasingly overwhelming. Support to keep it dwindling by the day.

What criteria do we as humans put at the top of the list as the most important reasons to keep it or remove it? This is what has already been decided. The water science and Nature science has won. Done deal.

Now all we have to do is get that dam out of our way- and out of nature's way.

Our current governor will be irrelevant in the long run. Florida government is already on the side of science and water restoration. It is our state government who used our tax dollars to develop the restoration plan in the first place. Implementation is all that we are waiting on- as this new law stipulates.

https://floridapolitics.com/archives/783674-michael-haines-ocklawaha-bait-and-switch-who-really-lands-the-big-one/?sfnsn=mo&fbclid=IwdGRjcAQaPz1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xNzM4NDc2NDI2NzAzNzAAAR52ljN_qQ6tlurhPQC3UKIaSf7FkxjUwtNommWLA9UhUCOv60qby2LeUm_oOw_aem_1NRnnEX3bWFBtkLjN6YzFA

I knew this was coming. I tried to avoid it.

Folks we have basically 3 sides to this Rodman issue:

1)state government & federal to large degree

2)Lake front residents

3)Bass fishermen.

The issue I have tried to avoid and dance around on this issue has now been brought to center stage with the posting of the above article.

So let's dive right in.

1)bass fishermen do not matter. No one cares what any bass fishermen (myself included) think about the Rodman reservoir. Fishermen be damned here!

That man who wrote the above article is coming from the bass fishermen perspective and his arguments fall flat as a huge fail and what he said in the article above simply is not true and he based his entire pile of words around something false I'll point out shortly.

Here is the problem with the bass fishermen who are whining and complaining about this dam removal. Are any bass fishermen stepping up to the plate to PAY for the dam's maintenance costs now that it is 8 years past engineering shelf life of the dam itself?

No, they do not step up and pay one penny of the costs. They simply want to show up whenever they want to and take advantage of a mistake. They whine about keeping the mistake and could not care less about anything else, the river, nature, nothing. All they care about is bass fishing and catching those huge bass Rodman is known for.

Honestly, and I am in the bass fisherman camp, but honestly we bass fishermen DO NOT matter in this issue. We need to stay out of it. Fishing is insignificant. Petty. Minor. Not important at all. Should not even be on a list for why to keep the Rodman dam.

That river will still produce huge bass with or without the dam. The St. Johns is proof of that. And for all those bass fishermen who want to whine about this issue like the article above does in spades, be aware that biologists working for the state of Florida have taken LESSONS LEARNED at Rodman and expanding them statewide. So what was learned there is being exported. Lake Okeechobee is an example of how biologists and Army Corp of engineers are working on water quality and water movement and water controls for FLOODING purposes down South that has the same or similar effect on bass fisheries.

Need I remind bass fishermen of the biologists work efforts at Stick Marsh? Farm 13? How about Headwaters?

All 3 of these are man made reservoirs biologists and Army corp of engineers use as natural water filter tanks to clean up the headwaters of the St. Johns River. They are growing huge bass quickly! Reputation is now worldwide.

Lake Apopka is being done the same way right now. Lake Toho was drawn down years ago by biologists and cleaned out and reshaped specifically for bass growth.

Polk county is today- besides the Rodman reservoir- is the number 2 spot in Florida producing the largest numbers of double digit bass like Rodman does.

Losing the dam is not the same as losing the fishing. Rodman lives on all across Florida and even into other states and possibly countries. Rodman has been used by biologists for decades. It is NOT needed for any real flood controls. It was never built for that. So its not being used in an important capacity. The Rodman dam is today an irrelevant old outdated MISTAKE mankind made way back when the Texas oil men wanted to shortcut their oil tankers trips around the world to make them more money while DESTROYING our state and natural water flows.

And that is what we need to get back to. Fixing what mankind has messed up.

Any bass fishermen want to step up and start paying the tax bill to keep fixing a dam long past its shelf life? Any bass fishermen want to meet a brand new baby manatee and his mother at the dam blocked from moving forward because humans thought it was better to block these creatures from their natural circuitous migration routes now destroyed by that dam?

Be there at the dam when an infant manatee just recently born in central Florida has to swim all those miles down that river to the dam to only have to figure out they have to now turn around and go back all those same miles to safety at the springs in central Florida. where are the bass fishermen to help nature survive and do we care? I sure as hell do. Those manatee are more important.

If we let them go extinct just remember that list includes us at some point and if we let ourselves go around killing off specie after specie then we are bringing ourselves up next a whole lot faster. Will we ever learn? This Rodman dam issue would be a great place to start.

I would tell all bass fishermen who want to keep the dam, then you pay for it. You maintain it. You run it. See how far you get.

No, all those bass fishermen want everyone else to pay for it so they are the only ones who can enjoy it a few times a year if that. It is simply not worth it. Bass fishermen do NOT have a case here. Not a leg to stand on. All they care about is big bass and their man made swimming pool to catch them in. So in my opinion, and I am a bass fishermen who has enjoyed the fruits of the Rodman reservoir, that today in 2026 I have to go with the flow of the right path. Fully restore the Ocklawaha river and remove that dam!

Now let's take a look at some of the BS in that whiney article above:

"On the surface, the sell is beautiful: manatees, “lost springs” and a restored Ocklawaha River. But when you look at the rigging of the legislation itself, you find a high-stakes trade designed to benefit private interests while sidelining the local community.

Do you see this writer's conclusion on the bill at face value above according to him? What he just said in that article is completely FALSE! He tries to claim the new law benefits ONLY private interests while SIDELINING the local community. That is what he said. The law itself says something completely different and opposite:

""Tributaries of the St. Johns River; Requires DEP to hire project lead to oversee implementation of act, to develop project plan for restoration of Ocklawaha River, & to develop specified outdoor recreation plan; creates Northeast Florida River & Springs Recreation & Economic Development Advisory Council; requires Department of Commerce to develop specified economic development program for Marion & Putnam Counties."

1)The law says DEP to lead and oversee project. That is government and NOT private interests which the writer does not name.

2)Project plan is to include OUTDOOR RECREATION, COMMERCE DEVELOPMENT & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. For who? That article writer said the local community is being sidelined and yet WRITTEN into the law all I see are community projects!

The law says various government agencies and councils are to do what? DEVELOP commerce, economics, and recreation for who? Yeah the sidelined communities again. That writer is so bogus its not funny. It ticks me off actually to read such nonsense about this project.

The writer of the article not even worth naming him continues to write:

"The Florida House passed this bill 107-3 on March 4, and the Senate is poised for a final vote. We are being asked to trade a world-class fishery for a $95 million gamble run by private contractors. "

More rubbish coming from a selfish bass fisherman who only cares about one thing- his next lunker and the world be damned according to him.

And what is this gamble BS? How is removing a dam and restoring back to Nature what we messed up a gamble?

Fer shame this selfish bass fisherman only cares about losing his world-class bass fishery! Shame on him! How can he say these things that are patently not true? If we spend $95 million to remove that dam it is no gamble. Its the right thing to do. World class fishery be damned. Go to other places in the state where this same type of water projects are ongoing right now and stop yer whining!

Bass grow big in all our bodies of water. What he is really saying is he likes how easy it is to catch the big ones in Rodman and he does not want to give that up. When the drawdown happens every 4 years all those lake bass are now monkeys in a barrel in river channel and fighting for food. So even the big ones will bite. Its a unique setup for sure. I'd call that writer of that article a lazy bass fisherman. Show up, toss out some wild shiners and hang on for that 12 pounder. That's all he cares about. He is the problem. His words are the problem.

Now let me address another issue this whiney lazy bass fishermen complained about that is also completely wrong!

The state of Florida operates in the black. We do not operate in debt and in the red. This state has reserve surpluses you can't even imagine. Billions of dollars on hand in this state.

"Florida is experiencing a strong fiscal position, with a projected $3.8 billion budget surplus for the upcoming fiscal year, supported by over $15.7 billion in total reserves as of mid-2025. Recent analysis indicates a $23.4 billion taxpayer surplus (assets exceeding liabilities)."

I'd say it would be $95 million well spent to tear that dam down NOW! Putting it off will only cost more down the road.

Now about those private contractors this whiney lazy bass fisherman is complaining about.

Folks who do you think built Stick Marsh? Who do you think constructed Stick Marsh? And how about Headwaters?

Private contractors for sure. And yes they will get paid and rightfully so when they are doing the work of the people.

But one thing not so well known about this state's bidding process for contracts is that Florida really does scrutinize closely all bids and bidding. They do not play around here.

And one of the things brought into contract negotiations with private contractors is not viewed on the table as one off projects to consider.

What is happening in Florida is a series of projects one after another or coinciding at the same time.

I wonder if this writer even knows or cares that the private contractors used to reshape the land we call Florida into world-class bass fisheries off the state reduced costs BECAUSE of the ongoing multiple projects all flowing from one to the next.

When you find good private contractors who take care of business and get the job done on time and on budget and even saves the state some money to put to the next project you bet those good contractors will be getting paid for what they do. And all of should be thanking them when you fish Stick Marsh, Farm 13, Headwaters, Lake Okeechobee, Tenoroc, and the many other places across this state our biologists are working hand in hand with private contractors doing what needs to be done. I am for one am thankful even if this whiney lazy bass fishermen pretending to be a writer thinks otherwise. He apparently does not know it was private contractors who build the Rodman dam in the first place to CREATE the world class fishery he is whining about losing now.

The writer continues:

"This is being proposed even though a $4 million repair could address deferred maintenance and stabilize the existing dam for years to come."

Who cares. You are on the wrong page. All he cares about is big bass and nothing else. All those baby manatee born every year following mommy down the river to the dam to feed and grow and live only to be cut off at the dam and turned back around DO NOT matter to this writer. He is showing who and what he is inside. And its not a good look either.

Buddy if you want that dam so bad then you pay for it. You have no right to tell everyone in this state that all of us- 99.99% of tax paying Floridians never even see that dam or Reservoir, and he expects EVERYONE else to pay for it so basically only he can enjoy it at the expense of everyone and everything else.

I'd like to tell this fake writer where he can go and how to get there ASAP! But there are rules around here to follow.

The fake writer continues:

"Before the final votes are cast, we need to ask: Who is actually going to land the “treasure chest” at the end of this line? From where I’m sitting, it doesn’t look like the local guy in a bass boat."

Yeah because that local guy in the bass boat is irrelevant. When pay full costs of the dam to repair and maintain, then you might have an argument. Until then you are merely mooching off an entire state and expect everyone else to pay for a MISTAKE that never should have been built in the first place. It needs to be torn down and all this bass fisherman cares about is himself.

I tried to dance around this issue and not deal with it, but that article just pushed it over the edge for me. I am a bass fisherman and I am the first one to say the dam is causing more harm than good and I can catch big bass all over Florida. I don't need one remote reservoir to take advantage of its unique properties targeting only huge lunker bass when they are all forced into a river channel at drawdown. He is the one who wants his cake and to eat it too, and have everyone else pay for it while he tries to smear the state and private contractors as "landing the treasure chest" which all of this is NOT about! He is trying to make it so and its not happening.

Articles like his do not deserve publication. We need truth in media and news. And yet nonsense like this is what we are being fed?

To SC53 who posted that article, thanks for posting it! I appreciate this opportunity to confront the real problem with why that dam is still standing right now.

He is the problem in my opinion. I just try and call it like I see it and let the chips fall where they may. I hope this comment in some form reaches other members in the same way.

Who are we as bass fishermen? Are we conservationists or not? It is fundamental B.A.S.S. core 101.

Well without writing a book to express my view you can twist your thoughts any way you want. I don't share your view.

Rodman Update.... failed to pass Senate by a couple of votes- this time. Notice it passed the house 107 votes in favor of removal and only 3 who voted no. This issue is a snowball rolling down the hill right now. No stopping the eventual removal in my opinion. Does not matter if I am for it or against it at this point. Its out of all of our hands at this point. Just reporting the current status...

"Legislation to remove the Rodman Dam and restore the Ocklawaha River failed to reach a final vote in the Florida Senate during the 2026 session after being blocked by leadership. Despite strong momentum, including passing the House 107-3 and passing three Senate committees with only one opposing vote, it died before a floor vote.

The Florida Times-Union +2

Key details regarding the Senate situation:

• Committee Support: The bill (SB 1066) passed through committees with minimal opposition, winning votes of 8-0, 10-1, and 17-1, with a total of 22 senators voting in favor of it in committees.

• Opposition: Senator Stan McClain was the sole "no" vote in the committee hearings.

• Blocked Process: The bill was deemed "suffocated in the dark" by leadership after it failed to move to the Senate floor for a final vote, marking the second year in a row the legislation failed in the Senate.

• Senate Makeup: The Senate has 40 seats, with one seat vacant at the time

https://www.news4jax.com/news/national/2026/03/18/decades-after-a-florida-canal-project-was-abandoned-advocates-are-trying-to-reunite-2-rivers/

Decades after a Florida canal project was abandoned, advocates are trying to reunite 3 rivers

The dead trunks of cypress trees, cabbage palms and other wetland plants briefly emerge during a drawdown of the Rodman Reservoir on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Palatka, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Freshwater fish swim in Cannon Spring, one of the lost springs of the Ocklawaha River, Thursday, March 5, 2026, in Marion County, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

A guide leads kayakers on a tour of Silver Springs on Thursday, March 5, 2026, in Ocala, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

The dead trunks of cypress trees, cabbage palm and other wetland plants briefly emerge during a drawdown of the Rodman Reservoir on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Palatka, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Fisherman throw their lines into the Kirkpatrick Dam spillway Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Palatka, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Nina Bhattacharyya, executive director of Florida Defenders of the Environment, stands near the Kirkpatrick Dam on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Palatka, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

The Kirkpatrick Dam, Rodman Reservoir and spillway are visible on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Palatka, Fla. (AP Photo/Daniel Kozin)

A great egret stands on a dead tree trunk during a drawdown of the Rodman Reservoir on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Palatka, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

An American alligator rests on a narrow piece of land during a drawdown of the Rodman Reservoir on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Palatka, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

The town of Welaka on the St. Johns River is visible Thursday, March 5, 2026, in Welaka, Fla. (AP Photo/Daniel Kozin)

People enjoy the Kirkpatrick Dam spillway Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in Palatka, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

The remains of a wetland forest are revealed during a drawdown of the Rodman Reservoir on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Palatka, Fla. (AP Photo/Daniel Kozin)

AP

The remains of a wetland forest are revealed during a drawdown of the Rodman Reservoir on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Palatka, Fla. (AP Photo/Daniel Kozin)

PALATKA, Fla. – It was supposed to be Florida's version of the Panama Canal — a shortcut for boats to pass through the middle of the state from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf instead of navigating around the peninsula. But work on the Cross Florida Barge Canal was stopped in 1971 over environmental concerns.

Since then, a dam and reservoir built for the aborted canal in northeast Florida has drowned a chunk of the Ocala National Forest, put 20 springs underwater and disrupted wildlife crossings, including some used by migrating manatees.

Every couple of years, when state workers empty the reservoir to clean out muck, those lost springs reemerge and cypress saplings begin growing on previously submerged land. For several months, the area returns to its natural state.

The latest drawdown of Rodman Reservoir, the first in six years, started in October and ended in early March. But environmentalists want to permanently open the 7,200-foot (2,200-meter) Kirkpatrick Dam and reunite the St. Johns and Ocklawaha rivers with Silver Springs, one of the largest spring systems in the U.S.

“By removing the dam, we would reunite the waters,” said Nina Bhattacharyya, executive director of Florida Defenders of the Environment. “We would have springs reemerge. Wildlife would be able to move back and forth -- migratory fish, manatees and so much more. Removal of the dam would really fix a wrong that was created decades ago.”

A legislative setback, and vows to keep fighting

The latest effort to make that happen, after decades of trying, failed last week when lawmakers didn't pass a bill before the legislative session ended that would have supported a $70 million project to restore the Ocklawaha River by opening up the dam over four years.

Advocates for restoring the river said they plan to regroup and identify the best strategy for moving forward, but they remain optimistic given how close they came. The measure had passed the Florida House and was awaiting a Senate vote before the session ended last week.

“While the bill did not receive a final vote in the Senate this session, the strong bipartisan support it earned reflects growing momentum for restoration,” Bhattacharyya said Monday.

During the drawdowns, what used to be on the 9,500 acres (3,844 hectares) of submerged land becomes visible. Bear and deer tracks are spotted. Wild turkeys and sandhill cranes return to the dried-out land. Thousands of drowned and ghostlike cypress, palm and maple tree trunks reveal themselves as the water drops.

“It's haunting, like a graveyard,” Karen Chadwick, a charter boat captain, said recently as she maneuvered her boat among decayed and graying tree trunks jutting from the water.

There are also concerns about the safety of the dam, which is past its life expectancy. Advocates for opening the dam say a structural collapse could endanger hundreds of nearby homes.

“Something is going to happen, maybe next year, maybe in a couple of years,” Republican state Sen. Jason Brodeur, the legislation’s sponsor, said last month during a committee hearing. “Something has to be done.”

‘This system is a national treasure’

Nature filmmaker Mark Emery told Florida lawmakers recently that the Ocklawaha River was unique as it was historically fed by the extensive Silver Springs system. But huge schools of mullet and catfish have disappeared from Silver Springs since the dam choked the flow of the river and reduced the number of fish getting into 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 all along the way.”

Some angling groups oppose anything that would permanently empty Rodman Reservoir, saying it has become a world-class fishing spot and supports a local economy of largemouth bass fishing, camping and birdwatching in rural Putnam County, which is among Florida's poorest counties. Supporters of emptying the reservoir say it will remain an outdoors haven, if not more so.

Plus, the reservoir reduces nutrient levels in the water and could be used as an alternate water supply at a time when Florida's population is booming, Steve Miller, president of Save Rodman Reservoir, told lawmakers in February.

“There's a bigger picture than what is being shown,” Miller said during a legislative hearing. “Don't gamble away on speculative outcomes.”

Fixing misguided projects

While the construction of the dam was a mistake, locals have made the best of the situation by creating businesses geared toward outdoorspeople, said Putnam County Commissioner Joshua Alexander.

“We have created chicken salad out of chicken,” Alexander told lawmakers. “We are not a rich economy, and I believe it would affect our economy.”

A restoration of the Ocklawaha River would be part of a long history in Florida of restoring a natural environment that was upset by a misguided public works project.

The Everglades in South Florida had shrunk to half its size due to water supply and flood control projects by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before a multibillion-dollar effort was launched at the start of this century to restore the network of wetlands. Similarly, the corps dredged the Kissimmee River and installed canals in the 1960s to reduce flooding in the interior part of the state, but ended up upsetting the floodplain's ecosystem of birds and fish. Efforts to restore the river were launched two decades ago and completed in 2021.

“Nature is very resilient,” Chadwick said, “if you just get out of the way and let it do its thing.”

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Follow Mike Schneider on the social platform Bluesky: @mikeysid.bsky.social.

And the people have spoken. And DeSantis gets to keep his job.

The folks of Mississippi with powerful allies defeated the developers who attempted to have the Pascagoula River dammed. It's still free flowing and wild and great fishing for many species. Glad they won.

Good Fishing