The Dam Costs Too Much
The Rodman Dam is an obsolete structure with no original purpose. It requires constant maintenance, faces inevitable failure, and costs taxpayers millions while blocking a thriving river ecosystem.
An Obsolete Structure
The Rodman Dam was built as part of the Cross Florida Barge Canal, a project abandoned in 1971. The dam has no navigation purpose, serves no flood control function, and was explicitly built as a temporary structure. Yet it remains, requiring perpetual maintenance at taxpayer expense.
Purpose-Built for a Canceled Project
The Cross Florida Barge Canal was halted by President Nixon in 1971 after environmental concerns. The Rodman Dam lost its reason to exist before completion.
Unlike functional infrastructure with ongoing utility, this is a relic of an abandoned project kept for decades despite its original purpose being obsolete.
The Cost of Keeping an Obsolete Dam
Perpetual maintenance drains resources that could restore a thriving ecosystem
Ongoing Maintenance Costs
The dam requires recurring drawdowns every 3-4 years, gate repairs, sediment management, and structure inspections. These costs compound indefinitely.
Major Repair Estimates
50+ Years of Limbo
Since the canal project ended in 1971, the dam has cost taxpayers for half a century with no clear long-term plan beyond "maintain it indefinitely."
One-Time Investment vs. Perpetual Drain
Restoration is a one-time project with defined costs and completion. Keeping the dam means paying maintenance costs forever, with major repairs looming as the structure ages. The economic case for restoration becomes stronger every year.
All Infrastructure Eventually Fails
No dam lasts forever. The Rodman structure is aging, built as a temporary component of an abandoned project. Gate mechanisms corrode. Concrete degrades. Sediment accumulates.
The question is not if it will require massive repairs or eventual removal, but when. Delaying the decision costs more money and extends ecological damage.
Planned restoration now avoids crisis-driven emergency action later, allows for careful environmental management, and stops the meter on perpetual maintenance costs.
What Maintenance Buys
- Recurring drawdowns disrupt the reservoir ecosystem every few years
- Degraded water quality and blocked spring flow continue indefinitely
- Manatees remain cut off from historic warm-water refuge and forage habitat
- The problem is deferred, not solved—future generations inherit the same decision
The Financial & Ecological Comparison
What do taxpayers and Florida's environment get for their investment?
Keep the Dam
- ❌Perpetual maintenance costs with no end date
- ❌Major repair bills as the structure ages
- ❌Continues ecological damage to springs and manatee habitat
- ❌Same decision deferred to future generations
- ❌No clear long-term vision or purpose
Restore the River
- ✅One-time investment with defined completion
- ✅Stops perpetual maintenance costs
- ✅Restores manatee habitat and spring flow
- ✅Creates long-term economic opportunity through ecotourism
- ✅Returns Florida's most beautiful river to its natural state
Stop Throwing Money at a Dead Project
The Rodman Dam has cost taxpayers for over 50 years with no clear purpose. It's time to invest in restoration, not perpetual maintenance of an obsolete structure.