St. Johns Riverkeeper heading out on second year of 5-year SAVe Our River’s Grasses Expedition

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The St. Johns Riverkeeper is setting off on its second year of a 5-year expedition to save threatened aquatic grasses.

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The St. Johns Riverkeeper launched the SAVe Our River’s Grasses Expedition, seeking answers and solutions to the massive loss of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) that has occurred in the St. Johns River in recent years. The SJRK advocacy team is headed out from May 28-31 for the second year of its study.

“Submerged river grasses are critical to the health of our river, providing biofiltration, fish habitat, flood protection and more. Without it, the St. Johns could turn into a dead zone, which is absolutely unacceptable,” urged Lisa Rinaman, the St. Johns Riverkeeper.

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SJRK has committed to continuing this expedition for a total of 5 years to investigate the case of the lost grasses and collect data over time, all while working with local river communities and state and federal agencies to better preserve the health of the St. Johns River.

Aboard SJRK’s patrol boat, the Kingfisher, the expedition group will visit the following sites:

• Tuesday, May 28: Clay County - Doctors Lake; St. Johns County - Fruit Cove, Orangedale, Colee Cove, Bayard Conservation Area
• Wednesday, May 29: Putnam County - Mays Cove, Dancy Point, Forrester Point, San Mateo
• Thursday, May 30: Putnam County - Floridian Club, Beechers Point, Jenerson Point
• Friday, May 31: Putnam County - Drayton Island, Georgetown North, Georgetown South

Field visit findings, data collected, next steps, potential solutions and opportunities and testimonials from local residents from SJRK’s first year of the expedition have all been compiled on the SJRK website.

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