State budget includes $10 million for St. Johns River restoration, study

By Matt Dixon

TALLAHASSEE – The St. Johns River is an indelible part of the Northeast Florida landscape, but what’s it worth to the state? That’s the question researchers at Jacksonville University and the University of North Florida are going to try to answer over the next year. The recently signed state budget includes $10 million in restoration money for the St. Johns River, which includes funding for a study to determine the 310-mile river’s economic value.

“It’s something we are looking forward to," said Quinton White, executive director of JU’s Marine Science Research Institute. "We want to know what the river means to the state of Florida.”

The study will look at jobs dependent on the river and things like property values for land located next to a clean river versus one that’s polluted.