Advocates for restoring the Ocklawaha River are undeterred by a recent veto setback and are moving ahead and regrouping to get more information out to the public.

DeSantis slashed $500,000 to study the potential environmental and economic effects of removing the dam last year.

But fisherman long defended the dam, which was renamed the Rodman-Kirkpatrick dam in 1998 after since deceased Sen. George Kirkpatrick, a Republican who represented the region for 20 years and long fought to preserve the structure. The topic of the dam’s future long proved divisive, and DeSantis’ veto was welcomed by some lawmakers.