It has been decades since Florida halted work on what supporters once described as a shortcut across the state, but advocates say the consequences of the abandoned Cross Florida Barge Canal project are still shaping the waterways and wildlife of the state’s interior. A dam and reservoir built for the plan drowned parts of the Ocala National Forest, submerged 20 springs, and disrupted wildlife crossings, including routes some migrating manatees use, according to the reporting. Environmental groups argue that permanently opening the Kirkpatrick Dam would reunite the St. Johns and Ocklawaha rivers with Silver Springs, which they call one of the largest spring systems in the United States.
The debate is partly visible in the cycle of temporary drawdowns. State workers empty Rodman Reservoir every couple of years to clean out muck, and advocates say the submerged springs reemerge during those periods. The reporting describes how cypress saplings start growing on previously submerged land when the reservoir is lowered and, for several months, the area returns toward what they describe as its natural state.
The most recent drawdown began in October and ended in early March, and environmentalists say the brief recovery highlights what they want to make permanent. Advocates point to the timing and outcomes of those drawdowns as evidence that there are ecological benefits to removing the barrier. “By removing the dam, we would reunite the waters,” Nina Bhattacharyya, executive director of Florida Defenders of the Environment, said, adding that “We would have springs reemerge” and that “Wildlife would be able to move back and forth — migratory fish, manatees and so much more.”
Bhattacharyya said the latest legislative effort stalled when lawmakers did not pass a bill before the session ended. The bill would have supported a $70 million project to restore the Ocklawaha River by opening up the dam over four years, after the measure passed the Florida House and was awaiting a Senate vote. “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. Advocates said they plan to regroup and identify a strategy for moving forward, even as they said they remained encouraged by how close the effort came.
The reporting also describes the Kirkpatrick Dam and Rodman Reservoir as a remnant of the failed 1960s-era canal concept—sometimes compared to Florida’s version of the Panama Canal. The Cross Florida Barge Canal project was stopped in 1971 over environmental concerns, and the dam built for it has since remained in place, environmentalists say. Advocates argue that the barrier continues to interfere with fish and manatee migrations and they say the dam is past its life expectancy, raising concerns about a potential structural collapse.
Republican state Sen. Jason Brodeur, the legislation’s sponsor, said during a committee hearing last month that action is needed because “Something is going to happen, maybe next year, maybe in a couple of years,” and that “Something has to be done.” Supporters of opening the dam argue that the risk of leaving the structure in place could extend to people living nearby. Opponents, however, say the reservoir has also developed into an important local recreation and economic asset.
Those opposing permanent emptying of Rodman Reservoir say it has become a world-class fishing spot and supports a local economy in Putnam County. They also raise the concern that removing the dam would permanently change a resource that residents have learned to rely on. Supporters say the reservoir can be part of the problem because it interrupts natural water flow, while also asserting that reservoir water management is not incompatible with other priorities such as nutrient levels and alternate supply planning.
Mark Emery, a nature filmmaker, told Florida lawmakers that the Ocklawaha River was historically fed by Silver Springs and that large schools of fish have disappeared from Silver Springs since the dam choked the river’s flow. “This system is a national treasure,” Emery said. He added that “Hundreds of millions of gallons of fresh water feed and cool the river” and said that “Before the dam, you had a direct waterway to the ocean with small springs all along the way.”
Supporters of emptying the reservoir also argue the area still functions as an outdoors destination during drawdowns and may remain so even if the changes are permanent. Steve Miller, president of Save Rodman Reservoir, told lawmakers in February that the reservoir reduces nutrient levels and could serve as an alternate water supply as Florida’s population grows. “There’s a bigger picture than what is being shown,” Miller said during a legislative hearing, adding, “Don’t gamble away on speculative outcomes.”
Advocates and opponents also addressed local economic impacts differently. Putnam County Commissioner Joshua Alexander said locals have made use of the situation by creating businesses tied to outdoor recreation. “We have created chicken salad out of chicken,” Alexander told lawmakers. He said the county is not a rich economy and argued that restoration could affect it. Karen Chadwick, a charter boat captain, described drawdowns as a striking transformation, saying, “It’s haunting, like a graveyard,” as she maneuvered her boat among drowned and decayed tree trunks exposed as water levels drop.
The disagreement is playing out against a broader history in Florida of reshaping landscapes through major public works—and later attempting to undo or adjust those changes. The reporting notes that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ projects shrank the Everglades before a multibillion-dollar effort began earlier this century to restore wetlands, and that the corps also dredged the Kissimmee River and installed canals in the 1960s to reduce flooding, changing the floodplain’s ecosystem. After efforts that began two decades ago, the restoration was completed in 2021. Chadwick said nature can recover when systems are allowed to function more like they were before human interference: “Nature is very resilient,” she said, “if you just get out of the way and let it do its thing.”