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.
Help us improve the health of your St. Johns River!
Each of our SAVe Our River’s Grasses field visits costs up to $15,000 for staffing, water quality testing, lodging, fuel, equipment, and supplies.
Please consider a gift to help support our SAV research and advocacy efforts so we can continue this vital work to protect some of the most threatened habitat in our watershed.
Read Our Recent Expedition Field Logs
We compile a detailed Field Log after each expedition that explains what we found at each site, shares first-hand accounts from river residents, and more.
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