In the 1960s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers cut through and plugged the Withlacoochee River to make way for the Cross Florida Barge Canal. Because blocking the river entirely would have devastated downstream ecosystems, the Corps built the Inglis Bypass Spillway to move freshwater from Lake Rousseau downstream into the lower river. The dam, spillway, and lock, along with infrastructure from historic phosphate mining and logging, affected how water moved through the environment. The bypass altered freshwater flow to the river, and despite engineering efforts, operation of Inglis Lock flushed saltwater into the Lower Withlacoochee. In 1942, Congress approved a new, shallower canal that used locks to carry barges up and over groundwater reservoirs instead of cutting directly through them, lowering the risk of saltwater seeping into drinking water supplies. But by dividing the Withlacoochee and Ocklawaha rivers, the canal had enduring impacts on water and wildlife.