A renewed effort to remove a portion of the Kirkpatrick Dam and restore the Ocklawaha River to its natural flow in Putman and Marion counties will face its final committee hurdle Thursday in the Florida Senate.<\/p>\n
Senate Bill 1066<\/a>, introduced by Sen. Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford, faces its final stop before arriving on the Senate floor. The House version<\/a>, by Rep. Wyman Duggan, R-Jacksonville, already passed through committees unanimously.<\/p>\n This is the closest that longtime advocates of draining the Rodman Reservoir and restoring the river have been to gaining Tallahassee\u2019s support.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t do any of the things that dams often do,\u201d Duggan tells Jacksonville Today. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t generate electricity. It doesn\u2019t create a source of drinking water. It doesn\u2019t have a role in flood control. It was built only to create a big puddle of water for the Cross Florida Barge Canal, which was terminated\u2026because of environmental impacts. So it\u2019s an artifact. It\u2019s a relic.\u201d<\/p>\n The 58-year-old\u00a0Kirkpatrick Dam holds back 21 billion gallons of water in the Rodman Reservoir on the Ocklawaha, the largest tributary of the St. Johns River.<\/p>\n Environmentalists say the dam has caused ecological damage to aquatic plant life downstream and prohibits migratory fish from moving freely through the river system. The reservoir and Rodman Recreational Area<\/a> draw thousands of outdoor tourists and anglers annually.\u00a0<\/p>\n The so-called Northeast Florida Rivers, Springs, and Community Investment Act would restore the Ocklawaha River and its floodplain to what it was before the canal\u2019s construction.\u00a0<\/p>\n The legislation says removing 2,000 feet of the dam would be enough to return the river to its natural flow. The bill also would create a grant program to assist river communities in Clay, Marion, Putnam, and St. Johns counties to implement new recreation plans.<\/p>\n The grants would be awarded by a 16-member advisory board, with nine members appointed by the governor. The panel would have representatives of river recreation-related businesses local to Marion or Putnam counties, as well as members who represent fishing interests and the commanding officer of Naval Air Station Jacksonville or a designee.<\/p>\n The bills would require the state Department of Environmental Protection to complete an implementation plan by July 2027 and finish the project by Dec. 31, 2032.<\/p>\n Officials estimate it will cost $70.03 million over four years to restore the river.<\/p>\n Conceptual renderings of the modified dam system provided by Duggan show a new dock, boardwalk and trail network built around the restored river.<\/p>\n Although breaching the dam would take away the reservoir and spillway flows that support existing fisheries, state officials say improving the Ocklawaha and lower St. Johns River access for boat and shore-based anglers could offset some of the impact.<\/p>\n Duggan points to a 2024 report that shows a $20 million in increased annual economic impact within 10 to 20 years of restoring the Ocklawaha River. According to the study, the cumulative net benefits over 20 years are estimated at $198.23 million \u2013 a $2.09 return for every $1 invested.<\/p>\n Quinton White, a retired 48-year professor of biology and marine science at Jacksonville University and the founding executive director of the school\u2019s Marine Science Research Institute, worked on the report.\u00a0<\/p>\n He says the reservoir already has to be drawn down every three to five years to reduce excess nutrients and biomass and control invasive plant species build up behind the dam.\u00a0<\/p>\n The reservoir is in one of those drawdown periods now. White says fishing doesn\u2019t stop when the water level is low.<\/p>\n He expects the river ecosystems to bounce back quickly after the restoration.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cA very valuable forested wetland system was destroyed when they submerged the land. And that system has a chance now to return,\u201d White said. \u201cAnd I think people are going to be surprised at how quickly it happens. Because just within a matter of months you start seeing these trees try to sprout.\u201d<\/p>\n Debate among locals<\/p>\n Communities in Putnam County have been split throughout the decades-long debate over whether to keep the reservoir.\u00a0<\/p>\n There\u2019s been talk among environmentalists and other groups of restoring the river since the 1970s. In 1993, the Florida Legislature first directed the Department of Environmental Protection to study the impacts.<\/p>\n For some locals and environmentalists, draining the 9,500-acre man-made lake \u2013 technically called an impoundment of the river \u2013\u00a0would uncover 20 fresh water springs submerged by the reservoir and restore natural river ecosystems. Proponents say it could also reduce the salinity of the St. Johns River with more fresh water flowing in from the Ocklawaha.<\/p>\n State elected leaders and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have warned of property damage and possible loss of life should the dam ever fail.\u00a0<\/p>\n An independent study of the dam completed in 2005, cited in Florida Senate staff analysis of the legislation, says an 11,000-acre area with 538 properties downstream could see a total loss of $57.4 million in damage.<\/p>\n \u201cBut most importantly, there\u2019s no alarm system in place,\u201d Duggan said. \u201cAnd if the dam failed at 2\u00a0a.m. in the morning, nobody would know. There\u2019d be no way to warn anybody downstream of the risk. It\u2019s a dangerous situation.\u201d<\/p>\n Linda Myers, a former Putnam County tax collector, former county commissioner and president of the Great Florida Riverway Trust, says whether to restore the river is an \u201cextremely passionate issue\u201d for Putnam County. She feels the latest proposal has done a better job at answering community questions than previous efforts, and she supports it. <\/p>\n Local officials like Palatka Mayor Robbi Correa and Welaka interim Mayor Kathy Washington have spoken to the legislative committees in support of the project.<\/p>\n Myers says many of the advocates for keeping the dam weren\u2019t alive when it was built and \u201cnever knew the river.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere are people that just know the reservoir. So, for them, I\u2019ve heard many times, you have a natural 50-year-old environment there. Why would you change that? In reality, it is not a resilient environment,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n On the other hand, other local officials are sympathetic to anglers who take advantage of the reservoir\u2019s premier bass fishing and boating, fear the legislation would drain a beloved local resource.\u00a0Larry Harvey, a Putnam County commissioner and executive director of Save Rodman Reservoir Inc., believes the talk of draining the reservoir is more about politics than protecting the environment.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHow would you like somebody to be in your backyard telling you what you should do in your area? We don\u2019t like it here in Putnam County. We have our citizens (who) want the reservoir,\u201d Harvey told Jacksonville Today. \u201c\u2026It\u2019s our water, it\u2019s our environment, and it\u2019s our decision to make \u2013 not out-of-town legislators who want higher office, and they\u2019re doing this just to get elected in purple regions.\u201d<\/p>\n The Save Rodman Reservoir nonprofit has a Facebook group<\/a> with about 5,500 followers and helps organize the annual Save Rodman Open Bass Tournament.\u00a0<\/p>\n Residents Putnam County linked to the Save Rodman group testified last week opposite supporters of the plan in front of Senate committees. <\/p>\n Debate in Jacksonville <\/p>\n The debate has also made its way to the Jacksonville City Council. By the end of the month, city lawmakers are expected to consider a bipartisan resolution<\/a> filed by council members Jimmy Peluso and Micheal Boylan urging the Florida House and Senate to send the river restoration plan to Gov. Ron DeSantis.\u00a0<\/p>\n Even though the Ocklawaha is the St. Johns River\u2019s largest tributary, Harvey has been critical of the Jacksonville lawmakers\u2019 desire to weigh in and jumped on recent comments made by Peluso<\/a> that the plan would make a JEA water source cleaner.<\/p>\n The Save Rodman group is also starting a campaign to reach out to Jacksonville City Council members and attend meetings to speak out against the resolution.<\/p>\n \u201cTo clarify, THEY NEED OUR WATER! A simple ride through West Putnam County and you will see how the massive withdrawals by urbanized area(s) (have) already devastated our lakes and the property values tax base that funds government services,\u201d a post Tuesday<\/a> on the Save Rodman Reservoir Facebook Group says.<\/p>\n Harvey tells Jacksonville Today that opponents are preparing for the plan to pass the Legislature. The Save Rodman group has now shifted its strategy to petitioning the governor\u2019s office to veto the bill.<\/p>\n What will DeSantis do?\u00a0<\/p>\n