Herbicide Testing Results
For over 60 years, herbicides have been used to eliminate invasive plants on the St. Johns River. Many of these chemicals kill aquatic organisms as well as beneficial, native plants. Nearly all are hazardous to the environment.
Scientific data proves that the use of herbicides reduces water quality by increasing nutrients and pollutants, increases the occurrences of harmful algae blooms (HABs) , and increases the success of invasive, problem plants over native habitat.
Despite all of this, the State of Florida continues to use aquatic herbicides at an alarming rate.
In 2025, Mighty River Recovery, along with important supporters, started the CEP initiative to address declining habitat.
Everywhere we turn, the St. Johns River is suffering. In fact, over 90% of all native, submerged vegetation has been lost from this once world-famous outdoor destination.
In order to determine the causes of our decline, ALL of the variables must be considered , including the impacts and presence of herbicides.
To do so, we take on the tests ourselves, using independent labs from across the country.
Testing for these compounds is incredibly difficult and often inconclusive.
Some herbicides bind to the soil, others persist in organic material but are quickly lost to evaporation when exposed to air.
Our methods involve sampling from the St. Johns River in three lakes throughout Volusia County. Here, we employ one of the following:
Sample water
Sample sediment after air drying
Use a specialized sediment sample method for Glyphosate and Diquat, only.
Tests are derived for 8 chemicals, three ways:
We test for:
Triclopyr
Imazamox
Penoxsulam
Flumioxazine
Glyphosate
2, 4-D
Diquat
Carfentrazone