Restoring the Ocklawaha River has been an environmental debate for half a century. Now proponents argue that
restoring the river also has meaningful and lasting economic promise for the region.

Since the late 1960s, environmentalists have been pushing the state of Florida to breach the Kirkpatrick Dam that creates the Rodman Reservoir so the Ocklawaha River can be returned to its natural, free-flowing state. The pro-restoration forces’ argument has long been founded on the principle that it is good for the land, the water, and the animals and fish that inhabit that land and water…