The Rodman Dam on the Ocklawaha River near Palatka.
Published on March 16, 2026 at 1:33 pm
Free local news and info, in your inbox at 6 a.m. M-F. Sign up for the Jacksonville Today newsletter.
Senate President Ben Albritton couldn’t say if the chamber had enough support for a House-backed proposal that directed the Department of Environmental Protection to develop a plan for restoring the Ocklawaha River, which is a tributary of the St. Johns River.
The river cleanup was among the measures that failed to advance in the Senate as the regular session ended Friday. Albritton said some senators “had real concerns” over the proposal (HB 981), while others “were supportive of it.”
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
The House bill was filed by Rep. Wyman Duggan, R-Jacksonville.
The plan called for the department to restore conditions to before the waterway was altered by construction of the aborted attempt to create the Cross Florida Barge Canal and its associated projects, including the Kirkpatrick Dam, which is also known as the Rodman Dam.
The House voted 107-3 in support of the proposal on March 4.
Jacksonville Today thanks our sponsors. Become one.
However, Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed a similar measure last year and in January he indicated his position hadn’t changed.
Albritton said that while the region may need to have a conversation on the future of the waterway, he added “that’s up for the local community.”
“There was plenty of opposition to it too, right, so you know, I expect the idea of restoring that is not going to go away,” Albritton continued.
Work on the canal started in the 1960s to create a waterway from Northeast Florida to Yankeetown on the Gulf Coast. The federal government halted the barge canal project in 1971, with the dam and reservoir remaining.
Many officials and businesspeople in areas such as Putnam County have fought tearing down the dam because they say the reservoir, known for its fishing, is an economic engine.
