Florida's Boondoggle: FOX 13 investigates the Cross Florida Canal part 4 of 4

TAMPA - For decades, the ill-fated Cross Florida Canal wasted millions of tax dollars. While the canal failed more than 50 years ago, it caused a big controversy we're still facing today. 

The Cross Florid Ship canal, and its successor, the Cross Floria Barge Canal, were canceled due to swelling costs and mounting environmental damage. 

But before the cancelation, it led to the construction of the Rodman/Kirkpatrick Dam in Palatka that blocks the migration of fish and manatees south, submerges natural springs, and restricts the flow of the famous Ocklawaha River. This has triggered a battle that's been playing out for more than 50 years that may finally be coming to a head. 

"Of course, growing up here, I know everybody, and some of them are very strong-willed about their decision on yay and nay on both sides and I see both sides," said Palatka resident Tom Deputy. 

"You have a lot of people who live on that lake and have valuable property. They built on that lake for a reason, said Salt Springs resident Mike Melvin."

FLORIDA'S BOONDOGGLE: PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4

Those who want the dam to stay in place include nearby homeowners who say losing the dam would drain the reservoir and affect nearby property values. 

"Because instead of waterfront property, it’s going to be a mud pit in the backyard," Melvin said. 

Those who want to keep the dam also say it’s good for fishing, though this depends on who you ask. 

"Fish travel down through these systems and the natural springs to repopulate. But when you have systems like this and these locks and dams controlling the water, it controls everything else as well- which depletes the fishing population and it just hurts everything on the ecosystem really," said CJ Harmon, owner of C-Bass Lures 

Now the dam is aging and needs to be repaired or replaced, which is leading to a big decision in Tallahassee. The Army Core of Engineers National Inventory classifies it as a 'high hazard potential dam’. That means if it fails, it carries the potential for significant damage and probable loss of human life.   

"You have a lot of economic development that’s tied up in having the dam there in guide fishing and other things. The con is that’s not the natural state of the river, and there are a lot of properties down river that would like to have the natural flow restored," Sais State Senator Jason Brodeur, a Republican who serves Seminole and Orange Counties. "And we’re going to have to decide if we’re going to take a proactive stance to return the Ocklawaha back to its original form or replace the dam and keep it as it is now."

Prior efforts to remove the dam did not pass through the Florida legislature.  Since President Nixon stopped the barge canal, the federal government has favored removing the dam, and every Florida governor has also supported removing it, until Governors Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis took no public position on it.