The Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir is a critical component of Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP) in the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). The project helps avoid harmful lake discharges to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries and sends more water south to the Central Everglades. Section 601 of WRDA 2000 and Section 373.470, F.S., require the State to protect water made available for the natural system by CERP projects from allocation to consumptive uses. Legal protection of the water is required before the South Florida Water Management District (District) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) may execute a Project Partnership Agreement (PPA) to cost-share the construction of CERP project features. The District is fulfilling these requirements by adopting rules reserving the water released from the EAA Reservoir Project to the central Everglades.