Across the river, concealed by trees, lie the unused Eureka Lock and Dam, built in the 1960s as part of the Cross Florida Barge Canal, a plan to make Florida the heart of a nationwide waterway network. Eureka Dam was intended to act as a cork on the Ocklawaha River and fill a reservoir almost as big as Walt Disney World, while dams and reservoirs would have allowed barges to cross the state. Critics feared the project would erase the Ocklawaha River and other special places, and as opponents raised concerns about cost and environmental impact, support for the canal declined.