30 West Palm Beach Fishing Club natural systems are being stressed beyond their capacity. Storm water run off and the need to purge Lake Okeechobee every time a signifi- cant rainfall event occurs is killing our estuaries.   Florida has a serious plumb- ing problem.  During periods of intense rainfall such as we have experiencedwiththerecentElNino event, the lake's water level can rise up to 6 times faster than water can be discharged into the Caloosa- hatchee and St. Lucie Rivers. Massive releases of polluted water flow into our estuaries dropping salinity levels to near zero, smothering seagrass and choking oysters with sediment. Even nearshore reef habitats located outside inlets are not immune from the impacts of these nasty water plumes.  By contrast not enough freshwater is flowing though the Everglades into Florida Bay, resulting in hyper-saline conditions that have caused large scale sea grass die offs and algae blooms in the Bay.  Fish kills often follow. Vast areas, north, south, east and west of Lake Okeechobee, that once stored and naturally filtered water have been drained to support agriculture and development.  Mother Nature’s natural flow-way from the Kissimmee River flood- plain, down to Lake Okeechobee, through the Everglades River of Grass and into Florida Bay has been short circuited and forever altered.  While some restoration efforts have helped, none have come close to mitigating the effects of such wide- spread draining of the land.   Estuaries are the cradle of life for hundreds of varieties of fish and marine life.  The Indian River La- goon, home to over 800 varieties of fish, is one of the most biologically diverse estuaries found in America. Snook, tarpon, sea trout, snapper, grouper, stone crabs and spiny lob- ster to name but a few all depend upon a healthy estuarine system.  Sea grass meadows and oyster bars are disap- pearing at an alarming rate. There will be no fish if there is no habitat to support them. Florida’s reputation as the ‘Fishing Capital of the World’ and the the thousands of jobs that go along with it are at risk.  Despite decades of promises, elected officials (past & present) have in most instances failed to find the political will and the fund- ing necessary to solve this persistent problem.  This vicious repeti- tive cycle and the environmental catastrophe that follows continues to grow, along with the price tag to fix it.  The time for studies and more promise filled speeches has long since passed.  People are angry and they want action.  Land must be acquired (purchased, leased and through conservation easements) to: increase water stor- age capacity and filtration; protect our aquifer; increase the sheet flow of water south through the Everglades into Florida Bay and; to reduce the massive discharges into our estuaries.  Plans are in place for much of this to happen and those plans are very doable. Here are specific things that should and can be done to save our coastal estuaries…  • Lawmakers must put hundreds of millions of dollars of Amend- ment 1 money into the Florida Forever land-buying program. They should make good on land acquisition as it was intended by the overwhelming support (75%) of Florida voters in 2014.  Before the Great Recession, the Florida Forever program was receiving $300 million annually.  That amount should be restored. Amendment 1 will generate about $600 million in the coming year and is expected to raise approximately $10 billion over the next two decades.  Yet, lawmakers are proposing to spend significantly less on land pur- chases. Even if the acquired land is not immediately used for water conservation, it gives the state leverage and options on future land swaps for more desirable or strategically located parcels. • Fund and expeditiously implement the most critical parts of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Project (CERP).  This plan has been decades in the making and provides a sensible path forward. This includes fast tracking the Everglades Agricultural Area water storage project south of Lake Okeechobee (part of the CERP), which is a key component to reduce freshwater discharges to east and west coast estuaries, and will increase water availability for the Everglades and Florida Bay.  • Expand the Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area to protect the Kissimmee River flood plain from encroaching development. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Accumulated sediment material and pollutants are released into the estuary each time spillway gates, like this one at the C-17 Canal, are opened. Estuary - continued from pg. 1