New legislation in Washington could dramatically decrease the amount of discharges into the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon.
Since January, more than 85 billion gallons of water from Lake Okeechobee have been discharged into the St. Lucie Estuary, Indian River Lagoon.
Bonita Springs Republican Curt Clawson says his bill would reduce discharges to the St. Lucie River by buying land south of Lake Okeechobee by 90 percent.
Clawson's 500 million dollar bill would buy land for water storage.
Jo Neeson, the owner of Fredgie's World Famous Hot Dogs along the St. Lucie River says actgion needs to be taken.
"Anything at this point. I mean the river is dead and it's going to stay dead. Our oysters aren't going to come back, our nurseries, the manatees are dying on the East coast. We can't wait for anything anymore," says Neeson.
Clawson is also part of a bipartisan effort to speed up repairs to the Herbert Hoover Dike for short term relief.
However, the Army Corps has said a stronger dike won't automatically allow for putting more water in the lake.