Conservation Clinic
Project Spotlight
2009 UF Conservation Clinic: Project Spotlight
The St. Marys River: Proactively Protecting a Transboundary Watershed
The St. Marys River is a unique and beautiful blackwater river, serving as the border between northeastern Florida and southeastern Georgia, and running through four counties along the way: Baker and Nassau Counties in Florida, and Camden and Charlton Counties in Georgia. The River begins in the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia, and continues along the border until it empties into Cumberland Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. Loved by locals for its unpolluted waters and unpopulated banks, the River is highly valued for its ecological and recreational significance. Still, as development pressure grows, the River faces an uncertain future.
With the goal of proactively managing this transboundary resource as a single watershed while it is still relatively healthy, local citizens formed the St. Marys River Management Committee (SMRMC). The Committee is a politically appointed watershed-based advisory body, comprised of representatives of the 4 counties that comprise the majority of the river basin. The Committee has developed a non-binding management plan with the goal of protecting the River’s unique attributes.
In the Fall of 2008, the SMRMC engaged the services of the University of Florida Conservation Clinic to explore the potential to designate the River as an Outstanding Florida Water, the highest water quality protection offered by Florida. In its management plan the Committee had identified the OFW designation as a strategy to be pursued. Recognizing that any protection given in Florida would require similar protection in Georgia, the Clinic teamed up with the University of Georgia’s Environmental Law Practicum, under the direction of Professor Laurie Fowler. In December of 2008, Clinic and Environmental Practicum students delivered a presentation of their findings, including a draft OFW petition at the SMRMC’s annual end of the year meeting at the White Oak Plantation in Yulee, Florida. Ultimately, due to stakeholder concern over the effect of the OFW designation on timber harvesting in the St. Marys River Basin, the SMRMC chose not to file the OFW petition with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The Clinic took advantage of the knowledge gained in drafting the petition to prepare a comprehensive review and analysis of the OFW Program in Florida.
In the Spring of 2009, the Clinic and UGA Practicum continued to work with the SMRMC, engaging students from the UF Department of Environmental Engineering’s NSF funded Adaptive Watershed Management Program in a review of the SMRMC Plan. The students recommended harmonizing data collection and other institutional processes across the state boundary. Students in the UGA Practicum helped to establish a “Septic Think Tank” to address one of the basin’s more pressing issues.
Recognizing the importance of the St. Marys River as a model for the proactive development of the legal and institutional framework for a shared water resource in a relatively undeveloped watershed, the Clinic and its collaborators continue to support the efforts of the SMRMC and its members.
Resources
- Draft Outstanding Florida Water Petition for the St. Marys River
- The St. Marys River Watershed: An Adaptive Management Assessment
- Enhanced Water Quality Protection in Florida: An Analysis of the Regulatory and Practical Significance of an Outstanding Florida Water Designation (forthcoming)