The Rodman Dam is a relic of the ill-fated Cross Florida Barge Canal, but it also remains a modern-day political marvel. Though virtually every single academic, state and federal study in the past three decades has called for the dam to be destroyed, a few stubborn lawmakers and some bass fishing enthusiasts have stood in the way. Why should this year be any different?
The bill headed to Gov. Jeb Bush's desk would declare the Rodman Reservoir area a "state reserve," and the governor has no choice but to veto it. The bill would undermine the efforts of the governor and the federal government to restore the Ocklawaha River. The U.S. Forest Service, which owns much of the land, has notified the state it wants to restore the river's flow. The Forest Service can do so with the state's cooperation, in which case it will share the cost, or it can bill the entire cost to state taxpayers.
In a state where $8.4-billion is being poured into cleanup of the Everglades, the restoration of the Ocklawaha may be the easiest environmental decision a lawmaker could make. The state spend upward of $500,000 a year just to keep the dam working, and an estimated $2.5-million in repairs are soon needed. Tearing down the dam and restoring the river would cost roughly $14-million, which would pay for itself in 20 years. The newly flowing river would be fed by 20 natural springs and would open lands to wildlife and promote kayaking and fishing activities.
The bass fishing camps that profited from the Ocklawaha's demise have played a game of political delay for so long that some of them now have the cheek to argue they possess what amounts to squatter's rights - that removing the dam somehow violates their property rights. This year they even attempted to use the untimely death of former state Sen. George Kirkpatrick to their political advantage. Kirkpatrick, from Gainesville, was so obsessed with keeping the fishing camps happy that the dam was named after him in 1998. At his funeral in February, an aide placed a "Save the Rodman" bumper sticker on Kirkpatrick's casket.
Gov. Bush said recently that he has "real concerns" about the Rodman bill, as well he should. Senators may have been thinking of Kirkpatrick's memory, but the Rodman Dam is a memorial only to environmental ignorance. It needs to come down.
