That dam diverted Lake Cleave’s flow to and from the Withlacoochee River, and aquifer-feeding tributaries, from the natural creek bed. Potentially, millions of gallons of water that would have found its way into the local aquifer have been diverted as a result. The spillover dam also caused unnatural vegetation to develop, plants not conducive with what mother nature had supplied to foster a sensitive, healthy wetland.

But the Cherry Creek Properties board paid for a project to reverse the damage, installing diversion pipes some 18 months ago under the eroding ground under the dam to take the water back into the original creek bed, which currently sits in a wooded area just south of the dam in a clump of woods.

Also, the company has planted 12,000 plants of the wetland-supporting varieties in the past four years, to replace the natural habitat that had died out as a result of the eco-damage done by the dam, Herndon said.

Now, millions of gallons of water will be naturally cleansed by Mother Nature and restored to the aquifer as a result, Herndon said.

“Nature is the perfect engineer, but we didn’t really understand that 50 years ago,” Herndon said. “Frank Rose, who owned all this land back then, was a consummate environmentalist. But he, like the rest of us, didn’t understand what we know now. No one is to blame for what happened. We’re just happy we were able to learn what we know in time to save this incredible resource.

“You have to give nature its position, which is what we’ve done with this project,” he said. “That spillover dam at Lake Cleave, however, will always be there, unless surrounding homeowners that own the property decide to do away with it.”

The University of Florida had shown strong interest in obtaining the wetland bank, but with competition and now lawsuits pending over water flows from Georgia into Florida, the company felt it best to keep the wetland bank in Georgian hands, Herndon said.

“We just wanted to do something for our community because it has given so much to all of us,” Herndon said. “Water is the gift that keeps on giving. We couldn’t think of a better way to say thank you. If we don’t have clean air to breathe and clean water to drink, what have we accomplished?”