The State of the River Report is the result of a collaborative effort of a team of academic researchers from Jacksonville University, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL, and Florida Southern College, Lakeland, FL. The report was supported by the Environmental Protection Board of the City of Jacksonville. The purpose of the project is to review various previously collected data and literature about the river and to place it into a format that is informative and readable to the general public. The report consists of four parts—the website (http://www.sjrreport.com) the brochure, the full report, and an appendix. The brochure provides a brief summary of the status and trends of each item or indicator (i.e. water quality, fisheries, etc.) that was evaluated for the river. The full report and appendix were produced to provide more to those interested. In the development of these documents, many different sources of data were examined, including data from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, St. Johns River Water Management District, Fish and Wildlife Commission, City of Jacksonville, individual researchers, and others. The researchers reviewed data addressing many different aspects of the Lower St. Johns River. The most statistically rigorous and stringent research available was used to assemble the report. When a draft of all documents was produced, an extensive review process was undertaken to ensure accuracy, balance, and clarity. We are extremely grateful to the following scientists and interested parties who provided invaluable assistance in improving our document. Reviewing this report does not imply agreement with opinions and conclusions reached by the Report’s authors.

Vince Seibold Betsy Deuerling City of Jacksonville (COJ) Bill Karlavige, COJ EQD Joy Hoffman, COJ EQD John Flowe, City of Jacksonville Melissa Long, City of Jacksonville John Hendrickson, St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) John Higman, SJRWMD Dean Dobberfuhl, SJRWMD Teresa Monson, SJRWMD Al Canepa, SJRWMD Derek Busby, SJRWMD Russ Brodie, Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI) Tony DiGirolamo, FWRI Justin Solomon, FWRI Lee Banks, Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) Patrick O’Connor, FDEP Lisa Rinaman, St. Johns River Riverkeeper Paul Steinbrecher, JEA Ed Cordova, JEA Tiffany Busby, Wildwood Consulting Marcy Policastro, Wildwood Consulting Mike McManus, The Nature Conservancy Richard Bryant, National Park Service Mark Middlebrook, St. Johns River Alliance

Maria Mark, Timucuan Trail Parks Foundation Stephan Nix, University of North Florida (UNF) Kelly Smith, UNF Dale Casamatta, UNF Robert Richardson, UNF Maia McGuire, University of Florida Sea Grant A. Quinton White, Jacksonville University (JU) Charles Jacoby, SJRWMD Ted Lange, FWRI Douglas Adams, FWRI Wayne Magley, FDEP Anita Nash, FDEP Kevin O’Donnell, FDEP Julie Espy, FDEP Daryll Joyner, FDEP Donald Axelrad, FDEP Barbara Donner, FDEP Kendra Goff, Florida Department of Health Jan Landsberg, FWRI Robert Storm Burks, SJRWMD Matthew Waters, Valdosta State University Christopher Swanson, FWRI Gary Weise John Heine, JU Steve Swann, Applied Technology & Management Melissa Simmons, JU

We have appreciated the opportunity to work with the environmental community to educate the public about the unique problems of the Lower St. Johns River, and the efforts that are under way to restore our river to a healthy ecosystem.

We would also like to thank the following individuals for their contributions toward the development of this report while they were undergraduate students:

Laura Elston, JU Bobbi Estabrook, JU Jessica Fernquist, JU Jessica Goodman, JU Julia Goodman, JU Julie Hammon, JU Leon Huderson, III, JU

Jingu Gene Kang, JU Ryan Keith, JU Rebecca Lucas, JU Nicole Martin, JU David Roueche, JU Logan Wood, JU Jenna Manis, JU

Samuel Dixie, JU Anthony Flock, JU Sara Debellis, JU Alexis Crouch, JU Keenan Carpenter, JU Krystal Dannenhoffer, JU Emma Fowler, JU

Andrea Pertoso, UNF Katie Anagnostou, UNF Sydney Peyton, JU

Sincerely,

Gerry Pinto, Principal Investigator, JU
Radha Pyati, Principal Investigator, UNF
Gretchen Bielmyer-Fraser, JU
Charles Closmann, UNF
Nisse Goldberg, JU
Brian Zoellner, UNF
Anthony Ouellette, JU
Niki Spadaro, Technical Editor
An-Phong Le, Florida Southern College