JU’s Quinton White discusses St. Johns River “sill” idea in Florida Times-Union

JU’s Marine Science Research Institute Executive Director Quinton White chimed in Wednesday, Dec. 5, in The Florida Times-Union on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ plan to consider putting an underwater barrier known as a sill at the bottom of the St. Johns River.

The sill would be used to try to slow saltwater intrusion into the river if its ship channel is deepened, according to the article.

White, however, had concerns. He told the Times-Union he had “serious doubts about it being able to work.”

Here’s a snippet from the piece:

He said the St. Johns doesn’t have significant changes in the salinity from the top to the bottom of the river. He said a sill would work best in a river that does have a big difference with a “salt wedge” that can be disrupted by a sill.

But he said it’s something the corps should analyze and overall, he thinks the corps is taking an expansive view of the environmental impacts.

“I like the tone. I like how they’re looking at things,” he said. “They’re not doing it to say it’s a done deal, here’s the stamp of approval.”

Read the entire article here.