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Continuous Stream Discharge, Salinity, and Associated Data Collected in the Lower St. Johns River and Its Tributaries, Florida, 2023

Open-File Report 2026-1012
Prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
By:  and 
https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20261012

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Abstract

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, deepened the St. Johns River channel in Jacksonville, Florida, to accommodate larger, fully loaded cargo vessels. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, monitored stage, discharge, and (or) water temperature and salinity at 26 continuous data collection sites in the St. Johns River and its tributaries. 

This report contains information collected during the 2023 water year, from October 2022 to September 2023. Data at each site were compared for the length of the project, 8 years so far, and on a yearly basis to show the annual variability of discharge and salinity.

The countywide annual rainfall for the 2023 water year was below the average yearly rainfall in four of the five counties. Annual mean discharge at 9 of the 10 tributary monitoring sites was lower for the 2023 water year than for the 2022 water year, and the annual mean flow at Broward River below Biscayne Boulevard near Jacksonville, Florida (USGS site number 02246751), was the lowest recorded at that site for the 8 years of data collection. The annual mean discharge for each of the main-stem sites was higher for the 2023 water year than for the 2022 water year and was above the average for the 8 years of data collected so far.

Among the tributary sites, annual mean salinity was highest at Clapboard Creek above Buckhorn Bluff near Jacksonville, Fla. (USGS site number 302657081312400), the site closest to the Atlantic Ocean, and was lowest at Durbin Creek near Fruit Cove, Fla. (USGS site number 022462002), the site farthest from the ocean, for all years. Annual mean salinity data from the main-stem sites indicate that salinity decreased with distance upstream from the ocean, which was expected. Annual mean salinity for the 2023 water year was higher than or equal to that of the 2022 water year for all main-stem and tributary sites, except at St. Johns River at Dancy Point near Spuds, Fla. (USGS site number 294213081345300), which was lower. Three main-stem monitoring stations (USGS site numbers 295856081372301, 02245340, and 301057081414800) and six tributary monitoring stations (USGS site numbers 300803081354500, 022462002, 301204081434900, 02246459, 02246518, and 02246804) either had the highest annual mean salinities or tied with the highest annual mean salinities at their respective sites since data collection began.

Suggested Citation

Carson, J.N., and Benacquisto, M.T., 2026, Continuous stream discharge, salinity, and associated data collected in the lower St. Johns River and its tributaries, Florida, 2023: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2026–1012, 52 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20261012.

ISSN: 2331-1258 (online)

Study Area

Table of Contents

  • Acknowledgments
  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Methods
  • Results
  • Summary
  • References Cited
Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Continuous stream discharge, salinity, and associated data collected in the lower St. Johns River and its tributaries, Florida, 2023
Series title Open-File Report
Series number 2026-1012
DOI 10.3133/ofr20261012
Publication Date May 15, 2026
Year Published 2026
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Contributing office(s) Caribbean-Florida Water Science Center
Description Report: x, 52 p.; Data Release
Country United States
State Florida
Other Geospatial Lower St. Johns River
Online Only (Y/N) Y
Additional Online Files (Y/N) N
Additional publication details