Do you have a minute? Can you tell Governor DeSantis that you support funding for Ocklawaha River restoration?
In the heyday of Florida ditching and draining, advocates for “progress” advanced an outrageous proposal: To dredge a shortcut shipping route across the Florida Peninsula, dubbed the “Cross Florida Barge Canal.” For decades, the project advanced in fits and starts, with consistent, dogged opposition from conservationists like Florida Audubon board member Marjorie Harris Carr, finally convincing then-President Nixon to put an end to this harmful project for good.
Nevertheless, the scars of this abandoned project remain on the North Florida landscape—and none more impactful and expensive than the Ocklawaha River’s Kirkpatrick Dam.
What Happened?
While the Barge Canal was never completed, the Ocklawaha River was dammed as the project progressed from east to west across the peninsula, backing up the Ocklawaha River and burying forests and floodplain under what is now called the Rodman Reservoir. While the reservoir is used for recreation, and is especially known for bass fishing, it comes at a heavy price: The weight of the water held back by the dam prevents 20 springs along the Ocklawaha from flowing; first magnitude Silver Spring has suffered long-term decline due in part to the dam; and the migration of fish like mullet, flounder, and red drum, as well as manatees and other wildlife, are all impaired by this relict dam. Taxpayers also bear the ongoing financial burden of maintaining and operating the dam, and downstream communities bear the danger of dam failure.
Appropriation Will Help Restoration
This year, we’re excited to share that decades of advocacy succeeded in the appropriation of $6.25 million to initiate Ocklawaha River restoration. But advocates for the status quo are calling for the Governor to use his line item veto to prevent this important progress.
Breaching the Kirkpatrick Dam would be an enormous benefit to the Ocklawaha, Silver, and St. Johns rivers, and the ecology and economies they support.
Please send a message to Governor DeSantis, voicing your support for Ocklawaha River restoration, and urging him to preserve the funding budgeted to begin Ocklawaha River Restoration. |
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