The Controversial History Behind the Rodman Reservoir

Nevertheless, Congress would never appropriate the money, as the war took greater economic priority.


Lyndon B. Johnson at the groundbreaking for the Cross Florida Barge Canal near Palatka in March 1964. Courtesy of the State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/153282

In 1964, the money was received and President Lyndon B. Johnson would travel to Florida to initiate the Cross Florida Barge Canal. Of course that wouldn’t matter, as a new group of protesters would come out of the wood works to fight this project as well.

A group of activists and environmentalists, with leader Marjorie Carr, would lead protests centered on science, activism, and politics. In a little under a decade, the courts and President Richard Nixon decided to halt the project. It would never come back.


Construction map of the Cross Florida Barge Canal in 1971, when construction was halted. Courtesy of the State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/30284

While the Cross Florida Barge Canal was never finished, the George Kirkpatrick Dam (Rodman Dam) and its conjoint reservoir had been completed. Since then, controversy has continued to swirl over it. The dam prevents free flowing water from Silver Springs into the Ocklawaha River and also retains toxic sediment build up. On the other hand, the reservoir has become a world-class fishing hole and economic anchor for Putnam County.


View showing people fishing in the Cross Florida Barge Canal. Courtesy of the State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory, http://floridamemory.com/items/show/103404


Article by Kristen Pickrell