Eva Velez (left), the chief of the Ecosystem Branch of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District, prepares to speak during a panel discussion at the 37th Everglades Coalition Conference Jan. 7. Velez was joined at the table by Dr. Tom Van Lent (center), the senior scientist of the Everglades Foundation, and Eve Samples (right), the executive director Friends of the Everglades. The panel discussed the importance of water management across the entire Central and South Florida system, and particularly the efforts to produce a new Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual that will provide significant improvements for stakeholders over the current Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule that was written in 2008.