Report: Eight-Year Study

In 2012, WAR members decided to pursue an extensive environmental assessment study to better understand the issues surrounding the health of the river’s most downstream section — the Lower Withlacoochee River, which flows from Lake Rousseau to the Gulf of Mexico. W.A.R. contracted with Wetland Solutions to conduct the study, and partnered with Florida Department of Envioronmental Protectection(DEP), the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) and the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) for support. The towns of Inglis and Yankeetown, along with W.A.R. members and others, contributed substantial funding. Over the course of an eight year effort, the river water was sampled and analyzed monthly for two years at each of six stations, two upriver from Lake Rousseau and the remainder on the lower river. Monitoring continued on a quarterly basis for a subsequent year. In early July 2021, following three phases of work, Wetland Solutions Inc. published a report of its findings, identifying problems mostly tied to human activities, and stemming in large part from the construction of the Cross-Florida Barge Canal in the 1960s.