Several hundred billions of gallons of water have poured into the St. Lucie River estuary during a historically wet winter, which should be South Florida’s dry season. The deluge includes about 67.5 billion gallons from Lake O since Jan. 30.

Besides causing environmental damage to the St. Lucie and southern Indian River Lagoon, the discharges are hurting water-related businesses such as bait shops, fishing guides, river- and lagoon-front motels and marinas. About 200 people, many of them small-business owners and employees, gathered on the downtown Stuart waterfront Friday to call for an end to the discharges.

Tourists spend $435 million in Martin County each year and contribute $33.5 million annually in local and state taxes, according to the county’s tourism and marketing office.

I’ll work hard to be part of a solution that will help restore our local waterways, but I need your help. I am sick of the stalemate.

I will work to put an end to that dysfunction. I will work to make sure the Army Corps of Engineers gets the funding they need to rebuild the perimeter of the Lake, hold the water, and avoid the harmful discharges that threaten our local waterways. I know disaster management and I will work hard to be a part of a solution that will help restore our local waterways.

-Randy Perkins