Treasure Coast nonprofits that research, protect, restore and advocate for clean water, especially the Indian River Lagoon, need more than holiday cheer to continue their missions.

TCPalm’s annual Giving Days fundraiser highlights how you can help these nonprofit organizations continue their important environmental work. Today, we feature the:

St. Lucie County Reef Builders

The nonprofit creates artificial reefs that create new habitat for marine life — mainly fish, oysters and invertebrates — that pass from the Indian River Lagoon to the Atlantic Ocean as juveniles.

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Wish 1: Landing craft for offshore artificial reef deployments

How it will help: The nonprofit cannot afford an American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) barge, which are multimillion-dollar vessels that require multimillion-dollar maintenance. But a used landing craft could deploy up to 50 tons of material per deployment. The landing craft could be donated to St. Lucie County and then leased to either a nonprofit or a private firm that would create artificial reefs along the Florida east coast.

Cost: Donating a used landing craft would cost nothing. Purchasing one could range $200,000-$300,000.

Wish 2: Fort Pierce Inlet locations to place experimental artificial reefs

How it will help: The nonprofit already has permits to deploy small artificial reef modules under docks at six locations. Now it needs agreements with property owners to place larger reefs under their docks or further offshore. The nonprofit will work with property owners to design inshore reefs that will not create navigational hazards.

GIVING DAYS: Read each Indian River Lagoon nonprofit’s article

Cheryl Smith is TCPalm’s environment editor. Contact her at cheryl.smith@tcpalm.com. Tim O’Hara is TCPalm’s environment reporter. Contact him at tim.ohara@tcpalm.com.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Giving Days How to help Reef Builders create Florida artificial reefs