OPINION

Public should speak out on the need to restore the Ocklawaha River

The Gainesville Sun Editorial Board
The Kirkpatrick Dam is shown in the distance at the Rodman Reservoir recreation area.

Floridians have an opportunity to tell state officials to do what should have happened decades ago: Restore the Ocklawaha River by breaching the dam on the Rodman Reservoir.

The St. Johns River Water Management District recently opened a public comment period, which runs through Oct. 22, to gather feedback on what should happen with the Kirkpatrick Dam and Rodman Reservoir. Visit https://bit.ly/rodmancomment to provide input.

“It’s important that people speak out on this,” said Elizabeth Neville, a representative of the conservation group Defenders of Wildlife.

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While the district website focuses on the dam and reservoir, Neville said the real issue is restoring the Ocklawaha River. The dam has impeded the river’s flow for more than 50 years, blocking the movement of aquatic life and degrading water quality.

Manatees in particular would benefit from breaching the dam. More than 940 manatees have died in 2021 alone due to factors such as starvation from seagrass loss. But their greatest long-term threat remains the loss of warmer-water habit such as natural springs, which they need to survive the winter.

Connecting a free-flowing Ocklawaha to the St. Johns River would create a migratory route for fish and manatees from the Atlantic Ocean. Manatees would be able to travel to the Ocklawaha’s "lost springs" that were submerged due to the dam and Silver Springs, and the environmental health of the whole river system would be improved.

Tracy Marinello of the Florida Defenders of the Environment, points to the Kirkpatrick Dam on the Rodman Dam as she talks about some of the hidden springs along the Ocklawaha River in 2018.

For years bass fishing enthusiasts have fought to keep the dam intact, with the backing of Putnam County officials who value the tourism it generates. But a restored Ocklawaha would attract more outdoor recreation than the reservoir’s declining fishery, economists have found.

American Rivers named the Ocklawaha one of America’s most endangered rivers in 2020, citing decreasing biodiversity and poor water quality due to the dam. A recent report by the Howard T. Odum Florida Springs Institute found that blue tilapia, an invasive fish, now dominates Sliver Springs. Restoring a free-flowing Ocklawaha would bring back native species that compete with tilapia and control their population.

The Free the Ocklawaha Coalition, which includes 50 environmental, business and community groups, proposes for the dam to at least be breached. The plan would restore the river flow and levels to pre-dam conditions while limiting the alterations needed to be made to land and structures.

“Partial restoration is the preferred alternative for river restoration that has been supported by almost all scientific assessments of the Ocklawaha Restoration Project, all agency recommendations, two environmental impact statements and conservation organizations across the state,” the coalition notes on its website.

This map shows the plans for the Cross Florida Barge Canal and the portion that was completed before construction stopped in 1971.

The dam was built as part of the Cross Florida Barge Canal, before President Richard Nixon ordered an end to the environmentally destructive project 50 years ago. Florida governors including Reubin Askew, Jeb Bush, Lawton Chiles and Charlie Crist have all advocated for the dam’s removal, to no avail.

Gov. Ron DeSantis would burnish his environmental record by being the governor who finally drained the reservoir and restored the river. Doing so would bring environmental as well as fiscal benefits, generating tourism while ending the expense of paying for the aging dam's maintenance and upkeep.

Readers should tell the St. Johns River Water Management District that they support such a plan during the public comment period, sending a message that the time to restore the Ocklawaha River has finally arrived.

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