Water management district adds 101 acres to Clay conservation area named for J.P. Hall

The St. Johns River Water Management District is adding 101 acres to a swath of protected land south of Green Cove Springs being renamed the J.P. Hall Bayard Point Conservation Area.

The agency’s governing board agreed Tuesday to spend about $1.4 million acquiring private property in Clay County that reaches west from the St. Johns River in an area enveloped by the district-owned land.

The conservation area covers 10,388 acres around U.S. 17, and the district has been trying to get control of the few irregularly shaped parcels that remain privately owned in that area.

The land is located south of the route where the First Coast Expressway, touted by county development boosters as driving rapid growth, is being built to curve toward the Shands Bridge, with a taller replacement bridge scheduled to be added during the expressway’s final extension into St. Johns County.

The water management district started acquiring land for the conservation area 30 years ago.

Executive Director Mike Register said through a release that the new additions will help regional flood protection efforts and protect wildlife habitat.

The deal approved Tuesday involves land sold by former Green Cove Springs Mayor Virginia Hall, granddaughter of longtime Clay Sheriff J.P. Hall, and J.P. Hall III.

The agency’s purchase was partly paid for by a state grant that was based on the site’s inclusion in a Florida Department of Environmental Protection resilience plan for managing flooding and sea level rise impacts.

About 165 acres in the conservation area remain privately owned, and the district said it’s continuing to talk to owners about acquiring the property.