PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. — The Ocklawaha River is one step closer to rejoining the St. Johns.
The Florida House overwhelmingly voted Wednesday morning to approve a plan to remove the dam that’s separated the two waterways for nearly 60 years.
That bill is nearing the finish line, despite staunch opposition from the local community.
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Michael Poag was born and raised in Putnam County, and he’s been coming to the Kilpatrick Dam ever since he was a child.
To him, it’s more than just a piece of infrastructure.
“I hold onto my childhood and memories with my mom and my dad and my sister, and this is the one place I can come, and it’s not changed,” said Poag.
The dam was built in 1968 as part of the later abandoned Cross Florida Barge Canal Project.
It reduced the flow of freshwater from the Ocklawaha River into the St. Johns and created a massive reservoir, which covered up 20 freshwater springs.
Ever since, there’s been a push by conservation groups for its removal.
Following a 107-3 vote on the floor of the Florida House, the dam removal effort has made it further than ever before.
State Representative Wyman Duggan (R-Jacksonville) is sponsoring the bill that would require the dam removal and adjoining environmental restoration project to be completed by the end of 2032.
Duggan argued it’s long overdue, as the dam has already stood for nearly a decade past its useful life.
“The dam doesn’t generate electricity, it’s not a source of drinking water, the reservoir created by the dam, and it does not operate to provide flood control. Those are the normal uses for dams,” said Duggan. ”This does nothing other than it’s like a beaver dam. It just creates a big pond.”
But State Representative Judson Sapp (R-Palatka), one of the three members to vote no on the bill, argued that “big pond” has become a world-renowned bass fishery, generating significant economic benefits for the county.
“That matters. It matters for small business, local jobs, and for a rural community that cannot afford to lose another thing,” said Sapp.
Susannah Randolph with the Sierra Club of Florida countered that there are new economic opportunities yet to be realized by exposing the lost springs.
“Whether it’s fishing, whether it’s recreating on the waterways. All of that will be robust in the wake of finally taking this dam down and restoring this river to its natural flow,” said Randolph.
Still, Putnam residents like Poag are holding out hope that Governor Ron DeSantis rejects the bill if it reaches his desk, just as he rejected funding to kickstart the removal in last year’s state budget.
“And if he doesn’t, I’m sure I won’t be the only one out here handcuffed to a fence,” said Poag.
The bill is ready for a floor vote in the Senate.
It was temporarily postponed earlier this month, but Duggan told Action News Jax he feels “very good” about the bill clearing the finish line in these final days of the legislative session.
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