Water Conservation Areas (WCAs): These three areas are primary targets of the Everglades restoration and are major components of the Everglades Protection Area. They are diked areas of the remnant Everglades that are hydrologically controlled for flood control and water supply purposes.

Water Supply/Environmental Regulation Schedule (WSE): A federally authorized set of operating criteria used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, with input from the South Florida Water Management District, to manage the water levels in Lake Okeechobee. Water releases from Lake Okeechobee by the Corps to the estuaries are made in accordance with the WSE.

Watershed: A region or area of land bounded peripherally by a water parting and draining ultimately to a specific watercourse or body of water. For example, Lake Okeechobee and the lands draining into the lake, as well as tributaries from which water leaves the lake, are part of the Lake Okeechobee Watershed.