SAVe Our River’s Grasses

Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) is the foundation of our river’s health – providing biofiltration, habitat & food for both commercial & recreational aquatic species, erosion protection, oxygenation of the water column, carbon sequestration & storage, and more. Unfortunately, the St. Johns River SAV is suffering mounting threats and stress resulting in the near demise of our river’s submerged grasses much to the alarm of scientists, fishermen, homeowners and river enthusiasts.

In May 2023, St. Johns Riverkeeper launched its SAVe Our River’s Grasses Expedition seeking answers and solutions to the disappearing SAV of the St. Johns. Over several days during each expedition field visit, our team surveys an 80-mile stretch of the river between Doctors Lake and Lake George searching for remaining grass beds, taking measurements, conducting water quality testing, and seeking solutions to restore this vital habitat.

We meet with riverfront residents, fishermen, scientists and community leaders to enhance our data collection by the observations of those who have lived on, explored, fished, or studied our river for decades. Our Field Logs are a published snapshot of these conversations combined with real time conditions documented from each expedition. We will continue to return to the field throughout the SAV growing season (March – October) each year for a total of five years in order to identify solutions to reverse this devastating loss of SAV.