Ocklawaha advocates launch big ask for Gov. DeSantis: Authorize river’s restoration
Advocates for restoration of Central Florida’s Ocklawaha River have launched a major campaign to persuade the governor to initiate steps to remove an ill-fated dam from the river through an effort designed to minimize costs to taxpayers.
“Riverway supporters recognize your important work in the Everglades and Apalachicola and hope that this national [Ocklawaha] treasure will become a restoration priority for you this year,” states a letter sent to Ron DeSantis this week by the Free the Ocklawaha River Coalition for Everyone, a group of more than 50 local, state, and national entities.
The river begins west of Orlando, runs north to join the powerful flow of the Silver Springs near Ocala and then arcs north and east to the St. Johns River. Just before reaching the St. Johns, the Ocklawaha is severed by a dam built in the 1960s for the Cross Florida Barge Canal.
President Richard Nixon stopped canal work in the 1970s as ruinous for Florida’s environment and environmentalists have fought since then for the dam’s removal.
Various politicians from Putnam County, which has struggled economically, have pushed to keep the dam as a modest source of revenue through fishing and boating. The dam is now past its designed lifespan and facing potentially costly refurbishment.
The coalition has broadened its mission to include what it has labeled the “Great Florida Riverway,” encompassing waters of Silver Springs and Silver River, the Ocklawaha and the St. Johns River to the Atlantic Ocean.
“Restoring the Great Florida Riverway is vital to improving the overall ecological and economic health of North and Central Florida,” the coalition states in its letter to the governor. “After 50 years of gridlock, you can execute a winning approach for The Great Florida Riverway and its communities.”
The group wants the governor to invoke a fivestep directive that would start with prompting the St. Johns River Water Management District to solidify and reconfirm details of a long-standing restoration plan.
The directive also would authorize the Department of Environmental Protection and Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to enhance river fishing and other recreation opportunities, instruct state agencies to strategize for economic development in Putnam County, enable the state to seek private and federal funding partners and formulate a state budget next year that underwrites river restoration.
“For decades, the science and economics have supported a free-flowing Ocklawaha River,” the coalition states to the governor. “All but one Florida governor before you, Republicans and Democrats, supported restoration of the Ocklawaha.”
“Where else can you restore 15,000 acres of wetland forests, generate 156-276 million gallons a day of natural water flow, uncover 20 springs, reclaim a wildlife corridor and migratory route for fish, shellfish, and manatees, and help restore three rivers and one of the largest artesian springs in the world with one project?” the group added.
The governor’s office did not respond immediately Friday to a request from comment to the coalition’s quest.
The coalition provided along with its letter to DeSantis copies of 22,464 signed letters — based on a template of a “Great Florida Riverway Action Alert” — from people in Florida and other states, urging restoration.
A detailed presentation of the overall initiative is online at greatfloridariverway.com