TALLAHASSEE — A decades-old fight about possibly tearing down North Florida’s Rodman dam and restoring the Ocklawaha River is flaring again.
Sen. Tom Leek, R-Ormond Beach, on Thursday pushed back against state budget proposals that could lead to a plan for restoring the river, which was dammed to create a reservoir as part of the long-abandoned Cross Florida Barge Canal project.
Environmentalists have tried for decades to restore the river, but officials and businesspeople in areas such as Putnam County have contended that the reservoir, known for its fishing, is an economic engine.
Leek, whose district includes Putnam County, issued a statement Thursday that opposed restoring the river.
“Florida enjoys many unique and rural communities which are deeply rooted in recreational and economic activity as well as having cultural and historical significance, and the Rodman Reservoir is one such extraordinary example, particularly here in Putnam County,” Leek said in the statement.
Leek also cited a letter that the Putnam County Commission sent Tuesday to legislative leaders opposing changes.
“The Rodman Reservoir and Lake Ocklawaha (another name for the reservoir) are not abstract policy issues for us — they are lived experiences, tied directly to the identity, economy and future of Putnam County,” the letter said.
House and Senate leaders are trying to finish negotiating a budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, which will start July 1. A budget proposal that the Senate approved in April called for providing money to the Department of Environmental Protection to develop a plan by July 2026 to restore the Ocklawaha River, with the work carried out over the next decade.
Proposals exchanged last week between the House and Senate included the possibility of setting aside $15 million for restoration of the river.
Lawmakers last year passed a budget that included $500,000 for the University of Florida Water Institute to do an assessment of restoring the river or retaining the dam, which also is known as the Kirkpatrick Dam — after the late state Sen. George Kirkpatrick, who was an adamant foe of tearing down the structure.
Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed last year’s proposed money for the UF assessment.
Work started in the 1960s on the Cross Florida Barge Canal, which was planned to create a waterway from Northeast Florida to Yankeetown on the Gulf Coast and included damming the Ocklawaha River. The federal government halted the barge canal project in 1971, with the dam and reservoir remaining.
Environmentalists have called for decades to tear down the dam, and then-Gov. Lawton Chiles supported the idea in the 1990s. But Kirkpatrick, who was from Gainesville, and other influential lawmakers worked to keep the dam.
