Reuniting the Rivers and People of the Great Florida Riverway Create a Better Future for All Our River Communities

The Ocklawaha River is the heart of the Great Florida Riverway, a vast 217-mile system beginning at Lake Apopka, flowing north along the Ocklawaha River past Silver Springs, and ending at the lower St. Johns River and Atlantic Ocean. See the Great Florida Riverway watercolor map.

The Ocklawaha River was dammed in 1968 severing this magnificent riverway. The dam was constructed for the Cross Florida Barge Canal which was never completed. It blocks the historic river route for fish, manatees, and boaters from Silver Springs to the Atlantic Ocean.

The dam destroyed 7500 acres of forested wetlands, 20 springs and 16 miles of the Ocklawaha River. Water, forest, fish, and wildlife damages continue today at historic Silver Springs, the Ocklawaha River and the St. Johns River Estuary from Welaka to Palatka to Jacksonville. Restoration is vital to improving the environmental and economic health on this riverway and its communities.

Envision reuniting the Ocklawaha, Silver and St. Johns rivers and historic Silver Springs by breaching the Rodman/Kirkpatrick Dam and creating a future that works for everyone. Anglers, businesses, outdoor lovers, conservationists, and taxpayers benefit from a healthier and economically sustainable riverway. A restored Great Florida Riverway creates hundreds of local jobs, expands recreational opportunities, improves water, wildlife, and habitat upstream and down, and saves millions towards making unnecessary repairs and maintenance for a dying dam.

If you love the outdoors, want a vibrant fishery for years to come, and support a healthy river system from Lake Apopka near Orlando to the Atlantic Ocean at Jacksonville, we need you on our team in the coming months. You can make a difference in your river community. Sign up for updates so you won’t miss important action alerts.