Florida’s Boondoggle Fox 13 Investigates the failure and folly of the Cross Florida Canal. The ill-conceived project burned taxpayers, damaged our environment, and set off a dispute that's still playing out.
If the land owners along the reservoir want to keep the dam then let them pay to replace it. The entire state should not have to pay to pump up the wealth of a few people fortunate enough to own lakefront lots.
to be fair it was to keep people off the streets during the great depression. too bad we can’t spend that much now to invest in government housing and mental health & addiction counseling
In college I thought it was free money from the government. Now that I am older and have a family I realize that’s our money that the government is constantly wasting.
@@lamontpearce170 You know every dollar of government debt is a dollar richer that a citizen is, right?! Money is literally debt. . . that's how the dollar is backed. Debt is the point.
Also a great example of the damage the government can do. The Feds created a problem where people on both sides of the dam issue have legitimate claims.
Biggest problem is when Politicians just flat out lie or change their stance on an issue, and at this point it looks like the only thing that will spark a change is the dam failing at this point.
It is on us because some of us will support projects like this and others won't. As humans we tend to support people who support things we believe in (healthy environment /economic development) even if our way of achieving them is proved wrong.
@@JEB..it wasn't a joke, if you watch the whole thing, which you clearly have not, you can see that he was indeed quite serious. Just another uneducated official making huge decisions for our country on full display.
We need to return nature back to its original as much as possible, and it took millions of years to get the way it was . And only a couple of poor decisions to get it the way it is today . Let’s wise up and do the right thing.🌎💦
I spent my childhood in Dunnellon during the late 70s, and anyone who ever voiced an opinion about the canal had nothing kind to say about it. It was unilaterally despised because of the damage to the environment.
Omg, I've been here since I was 13 years old and I am 60!! I live in Titusville I've lived in Bronson which is right outside of ocala, I've never heard about this! How in the hell have I never heard about this? Thank God they failed in their miserable endeavor😂😂😂
I was stationed in Yankeetown at the Coast Guard station there 2005-2007 Nobody there knew anything about the canal, other than it was called the barge canal and we didn’t go down it very often, except for area familiarity runs for new crew members. Pretty cool thanks for doing this!
Pretty sure that dude was indicted and home(s) raided. They found thousands of dollars just lying around in boxes and in freezers. For some reason. Typical democrat. This happened either under Bush2 or Obama. Don't recall which.
We are fixing them slowly. The attempt to control water in a swampland was not well thought out and by the time we realized a generation or 2 down its a lot more costly to fix in some cases and we have to weigh property rights. The dam needs to go. It's a net positive to Florida as a whole even if some may feel they are losers. That's where the state has to come in with the federal govt and make them financially whole in regards to lost property value.
That was well done. Thanks for sharing! Based on dam removals elsewhere in the country (see the White Salmon and Elwha in WA), the river and fish tend to go back to what they were doing before we built a dam in around 10 years. The mud and smell that the one man interviewed was worried about only last a month or two.
During the times they made decisions around the country that were similarly not necessary. Jobs were necessary though and they made it happen. Not saying it was justified, but it helped people survive and provide.
No EPA and no environmental impact studies... no experts. Just politicians. We're going to go back to that once trump is "president" ... ehrm _supreme leader!_
Im a PALATKA FLORIDA MAN. The reservoir is cool and all, but it should be given back to nature. Putnam is rural, not to populated, full of nature and peace.
Interesting/informative/entertaining. Excellent still-motion photography pictures/drawings/maps. Along with guest speakers sharing personal information pertaining to the water ways. Enabling viewers to better understand what the orator is describing.
This is why it's so sad that very few people can have influence on very large things. It just takes one person being short-sighted with a goal in mind that can't be persuaded to destroy ecosystems and cause potential catastrophe
@radioactivelight and the white guy thought the bureau of land management could change the orbit of the moon (much more recently, I might add and far more "educated"). Don't be selective in assigning stupidity to two men, regardless of race. It's not a good look.
I live along the dug out canal in Masaryktown Florida, I’ve always wondered what it was but up until recently, in the last 5 years I did some research. I can’t believe it’s basically in my backyard, there are also a few pillars nearby built for to roads to cross the canal.
I am a 72 year old lesbian. People tell me I am super hot for my age. I loved this video. I used to swim in the Ocklawaha River and feed the monkeys, I miss those days.
The dam is 20 miles from Palatka! When there is a drawdown of the dam ,the kayakers and other boaters come out. The economic value of restoring the Ocklawaha River flow would be doubled and open more fishing areas for all residents. I heard some millionaire has a house on the "Pool" so the good ol' boys, like Bradley, are against this. The U.S. Gov't or the state owns the river bank, not the 100+ people who built illegal docks on the river. A friend was shot at looking at the docks. while on the river.
Put it on the next ballot and let citizens vote on whether to keep the Rodman dam or not. If they dynamite it and it creates huge problems then we will forget about the state’s attention to rescue our failing home insurance fiasco and redirect millions of dollars figuring out how to solve new problems caused by a different flow of water.
I had never heard of this in my life, and I'm 50, so that tells you that when they screw up, they don't write in the history books unless it's a side note.
So the only reason to keep the damn are for selfish reason? Yet "i CaN CaTCh MoRE FiShiES" has been the reason for keeping it yet the reason for making it was for shipping. Yeah that makes sense.
As a native floridian who is outdoors and on the water alot. DeSantis can win again if he removes the dam. Even after his pissing match with Disney that he is currently losing. Florida stand on the fxck the government motto. He turned down 120 million in federal food stamp aid from them because of the asks that were involved with the aid
No it will change it. Change it to the beautiful place it once was naturally. It will take time for it to heal but we've been shown time and again it happens faster than we expect. Within a few years we will realise it's all headed in the right direction. Man should have never attempted to control Florida's water system. Now we have to fix it. It's a net benefit to all of Florida even if it means a minority will lose. What needs to happen is the state and federal govt need to bring in the checkbook and pay property owners the current value of their property irregardless if they intend to sell or move. They have to make people whole. Then they need to remove the dam and let nature do the heavy lifting.
Don't need to tax more. Taxes rarely go to what they are intended. It's removal of a dam that the federal govt is at least 50% responsible for. It should not be overly expensive or 100% our bill. For every one dollar you take from the people 3 are spent. 2.5 on fraud, waste and abuse. The last .50 is spent on the project. The Indian river lagoon restoration is an example, the Everglades restoration is an example. Both of those massive projects cost too much and are simply overcomplicated for the sake of contracts and jobs. Same ole story. Never look to give your money to govt for a solution. Both of those mentioned projects could be done with 1/3 the cost and with a year. I worked for govt, multiple agencies and they all run the same. Your tax money might ad well go in the trash. It's waste waste waste, hooking up friends of friends, ect ect. Our govt is in the world's highest debt but it doesn't have to be. They waste about 60% of the taxpayers money every year. We could not only pay the national debt but have a surplus within just a few years if you cut the fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption out. It made me sick but I didn't make the rules. The way Both the federal, state and local govts do their budgets and the laws governing contracts is what allows it. Many many many years ago contracts were awarded at cost benefit but that has long gone away. We never choose the lowest bidder. We choose who knows who and how will a chunk of the money find its way to the people awarding the contracts. That incentivises larger monetary contracts. Until the entire system is revised from the top down I would strongly advise not supporting any new taxes and even lowering the ones we have. Every dollar in the hands of the person who earned it is a dollar spent in a business supporting jobs of other workers who can keep their dollar to spend in a business and so on. It's a better use of the money until government can be fixed to actually provide the services we pay for.
The true boondoggle is that the canal was never finished. The loss in economic prosperity to Ocala and Dunnellin are huge. Any one who knows how locks work knows that water flows to the sea not from the sea. As always a bunch of environmental extremists shut down something that would have been a boon to Florida.
True, though in fairness, Gohmert is an idiot. I'm sure you went and checked full context on the other fellas comment too right? No? Here ya go. From Hank Johnson's statement: "The subtle humor of this obviously metaphorical reference to a ship capsizing illustrated my concern about the impact of the planned military buildup on this small tropical island."
7:40 build a port at each end of the water openings and ship the freight across the land more feasible economically affordable 🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊⛴️ Port freight shippers⛴️🚚🏞️🌳🛣️🚛➡️➡️➡️➡️➡️➡️➡️➡️➡️➡️➡️➡️➡️➡️🚚🏞️🌳🛣️🌉🌃
