Sanibel’s bay waters, where freshwater from the Caloosahatchee River meets the Gulf of Mexico, are among the world’s richest fishing grounds, but their health depends on restoring both the Caloosahatchee and the Everglades. As Florida’s interior wetlands were drained for homes and agriculture, the Caloosahatchee River was connected to Lake Okeechobee and then used to send water quickly out to sea that had historically flowed south to the Everglades. Historically, the Caloosahatchee was not connected to Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades, but today canals and water-control structures determine the timing and quality of water flows. Because aquatic plants and animals in the bay depend on certain ranges of salinity, the amount of Caloosahatchee freshwater entering the bay is critical. South Florida averages 55 inches of rain each year, almost all in summer, and because water levels in Lake Okeechobee determine releases to the Caloosahatchee, salinity in summer is often too low and in winter too high. The effects of this altered system have included billions of gallons of polluted water released down the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie Rivers in 2004–2006 after hurricane rains raised Lake Okeechobee too high, a six-foot lake rise during one six-week period in 2004, safety concerns after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 that forced managers to lower lake levels at the Herbert Hoover Dike, and 40 inches of rain from one tropical storm in 2008 over 17 days. Oyster reefs and seagrass meadows, which provide feeding sites and nursery habitat for fishes, shrimp, crabs, mammals, and birds, are especially sensitive to salinity changes and declining water quality. SCCF and the City of Sanibel are working with many local, regional, and state groups to get the water right and protect this sanctuary.