Charlie Crist: Undo damage of Cross Florida Barge Canal and restore the Ocklawaha River
Florida’s great outdoors are unlike anything in the world. From manatees to spoonbills, to bald cypress trees, there is no place like it. And yet, much of the last 100 years has been marked by environmental devastation rather than stewardship. From foolish attempts to drain the Everglades to pollution runoff that poisons our waterways, our state bears the scars of past mistakes.
One such bad idea, the Cross Florida Barge Canal, was, meant to expedite shipping between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico by slicing a 30-foot-deep canal through the heart of Florida. More than double the length of the Panama Canal with a fraction the economic benefit, the project was a death knell for the Ocklawaha River — a natural, spring-fed waterway that emptied in the St. Johns River.
Thanks to the vision and leadership of Marjorie Harris Carr, President Richard Nixon canceled the Depression-era project 51 years ago this month, leaving behind an open space known as the Cross Florida Greenway that eventually came to be named after Carr. Beloved by outdoor enthusiasts, the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway features over 100 miles of hiking, biking, camping and kayaking.
While the Greenway represents a rebirth, North Florida still bears scars from the canal project. One such scar, the Rodman dam, prohibits free movement of marine mammals, dirties our water, chokes our springs and continually disrupts an entire ecosystem.
The dam and the resulting reservoir were built in 1968 and have imprisoned the Ocklawaha River ever since. Once-beautiful marshland is now plagued by invasive species and degraded water quality, smothering 20 freshwater springs. The aging dam threatens nearby homes while preventing fish and manatees from migrating to warmer waters during the winter. After a tragically deadly year for the Florida manatee, we should be doing all we can to protect our inimitable wildlife.
When I served as governor, I was proud to be part of the long-standing, bipartisan effort to undo the harm done by this ill-conceived project. Some of those who also joined the fight were presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, Florida governors Lawton Chilies, Buddy MacKay and Jeb Bush, U.S. Sens. Bob Graham and Bill Nelson, and many other Republicans and Democrats at the federal, state and local levels.
Unfortunately, the budget to finish the job on this and many other important environmental priorities was bled dry by the not-so-Great Recession. But now the state is flush with cash — thanks in part to the wisdom of Florida voters who passed the Florida Water and Land Conservation Initiative (Amendment 1) by a tremendous margin in 2014.
With many of the permits already in place, we can move quickly to restore the Ocklawaha River and deliver key environmental and recreational benefits. Almost immediately, we would see an improvement in the health of river systems in Central and Northeast Florida, including the St. Johns River. The 20 lost springs would re-emerge, and fresh water flow would improve. Native fish would help control invasive species. Native aquatic vegetation would grow. Thousands of acres of marshland would be resurrected, and migratory fish could once again use the river. Manatees would also benefit from the unobstructed route and vital warm springs.
The public, the science and the economics all overwhelmingly support restoration of the Ocklawaha River.
Charlie Crist is a U.S. congressman from St. Petersburg. This op-ed is part of “The Invading Sea” series of the Florida Climate Reporting Network, a collaborative of news organizations across the state.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Charlie Crist: Undo canal project damage, restore Ocklawaha River
