In a move described as “groundbreaking,” the St. Johns River gained a new team of advocates Monday who have pledged to work together to breach the Rodman Dam in Putnam County in an effort to head off possible environmental impacts from deepening Jacksonville’s shipping channel.
A memorandum of understanding was signed by the city, JAX Chamber, the Jacksonville Port Authority and the St. Johns Riverkeeper. It defines a “collaborative framework” to expedite restoration of the Ocklawaha River to its original flow and therefore add millions of gallons of fresh water to the St. Johns River each day.
“This is groundbreaking,” said John Delaney, chair of the board of directors of JAX Chamber. “Jacksonville’s business community pledges to get behind and support these efforts to improve the health of the river.”
The chamber, the city and the port authority signed on to seek and secure funding for restoration of the Ocklawaha and St. Johns rivers through state and federal sources.
The St. Johns Riverkeeper agreed to forgo litigation challenging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Environmental Impact Statement pertaining to the channel deepening project at the port, provided the legislation for the restoration of the rivers is authorized and funded.
The riverkeeper contends the environmental damage that could be caused by dredging the channel from 40 to 47 feet outweighs the possible economic benefits of the project.
Lisa Rinaman, St. Johns Riverkeeper, said she was signing the memorandum with “guarded optimism” and described the partnership among the varying interests as “a balanced approach to the dredging discussion.”
She said removing the Rodman Dam would allow millions of additional gallons of fresh water to flow from the Ocklawaha River into the St. Johns River each day. That would likely lessen the effects of salt water intrusion anticipated in the St. Johns if the channel is deepened.
Allowing the Ocklawaha to return to its natural state also would restore 15,000 acres in the Ocklawaha flood plain, Rinaman said.
U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown supports the combined effort to improve the river as part of the proposed dredging project. Having all three levels of government working together with a single goal may help the restoration project proceed.
“Government works best when local, state and federal governments work together,” she said.
Delaney, a former Jacksonville mayor, said his position on breaching the Rodman Dam has changed. He now supports the proposal.
“I’ve been ambivalent over the years about removing Rodman. Over the past year, the science has convinced me,” he said.
Port authority board Chair John Falconetti said the port appreciates the importance of maintaining the health of the St. Johns River, but much work remains to be done.
Mayor Alvin Brown spoke in support of the new partnership and both sides working together toward a common goal.
“It’s good to see the business community and the environmental community on the same boat and rowing in the same direction,” he said.
Adding the removal of the Rodman Dam as part of the overall dredging plan would increase the total cost of the project by as much as $25 million.
That the nearly $700 million dredging portion of the project will ever begin is not certain.
The federal government generally picks up 65 percent of the cost of a harbor improvement project, leaving the port authority, city and state to find a way to cover the balance.
The memorandum does not lay out any plan to secure funding for the project. Still, Monday’s agreement is a step forward after three years of controversy over the project, according to Rinaman.
“It took us this long to figure out how to work together,” she said. “Now we have to figure out how to make it happen.”
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