Small rural wastewater utilities often face significant challenges managing systems with limited resources, including small staffs, constrained budgets, aged infrastructure and how to have wide visibility into system conditions, especially during wet-weather events. Increasingly, these utilities are adopting continuous monitoring technology to improve operational awareness and to support predictive system management. Managing sewer overflows to protect the Coquille River is a priority for the City of Powers, Oregon, a rural community of approximately 700 residents located in the Coast Range Mountains valley. The city operates a wastewater collection system with a single 60-plus-year-old wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) with a capacity of 0.5 MGD, and about five miles of gravity sewer mains that cut through stretches of sparsely inhabited areas. Historically, the city relied on limited operational data to understand how rainfall and inflow and infiltration (I&I) impacted its wastewater collection system. They also had no way of anticipating spills, which when they occurred caused the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to fine the city. Powers operates under a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, which regulates the quality and quantity of treated wastewater that can be discharged from the city's WWTP into local waterways. To improve operational awareness, the city deployed a network of remote real-time flow monitors integrated with local rainfall data to have continuous system-wide visibility. Early warnings allow staff time to detect abnormal flow patterns and respond proactively before surcharging conditions or overflows occur, reducing environmental risks and supporting state and federal regulatory compliance. The monitors were a key component of a comprehensive inflow and infiltration (I&I) reduction initiative, which required precise measurement of low-flow conditions to support the design of a new wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). To advance the project, the City of Powers secured funding through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), enabling both the I&I reduction efforts and the development of a preliminary engineering report for the new facility. This federal investment provided critical infrastructure funding and significantly reduced the financial burden on the community, where about 30% of residents live at or below the poverty level. The real-time monitors helped focus the I/I reduction project to areas that are contributing to I&I. Monitoring assisted in pre and post I/I reduction evaluation on the effectiveness of the project. The ARPA grant does not cover repair or replacement of those laterals. Additionally, Powers is a significant and protected archaeological area for the Coquille Indian Tribe, which requires archaeological monitors to observe excavations. That can be a costly endeavor for residents as well as the city. This presentation will include analytics, images and a demonstration to share lessons learned from the City of Powers and to highlight replicable practices. Using continuous monitoring and rainfall analytics can help small utilities proactively manage wet-weather capacity issues, reduce overflow risks, and strengthen collection system resilience.

Background and Objectives

The Russian River County Sanitation District (District), managed and operated by Sonoma Water, provides sanitary sewer conveyance and treatment for approximately 3,300 properties in Sonoma County, California. The District's service area of about 4 square miles encompasses several unincorporated communities, most notably Guerneville, a small town and popular vacation spot located on the Russian River. This area of California experiences dry summers, with the majority of annual rainfall occurring during a wet season between approximately November and April. The location of the District in the lower Russian River watershed is noteworthy, as river flooding impacts the sanitary sewer system. The Russian River watershed comprises over 1,350 square miles upstream of the District's (4 square mile) service area. Because the Russian River flows through the service area, Guerneville and surroundings have experienced multiple significant flooding events, with river cresting above the major flood stage (as defined by the National Weather Service) during five wet seasons in the last forty years. During major floods, portions of the sanitary sewer system can be inundated (submerged) with flood waters. Sanitary sewer overflows during the 2016/2017 and 2018/2019 wet weather seasons, concurrent with flood events on the Russian River, prompted the California's North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board to issue requirements to study and address the potential for capacity limitations in the District's collection system. The District's prior capacity assessment had been completed in 2016, based on hydraulic modeling and flow monitoring from around 2014. That study had found no capacity deficiencies in the system. However, the model developed and used at the time did not include or consider the potential impact of elevated river levels on the sanitary sewer system. Key objectives of the new study included expanding, updating, and recalibrating the hydraulic model to incorporate impacts from elevated river levels and to more realistically simulate varied seasonal conditions; identifying reasonable design conditions that balance the need to provide adequate sanitary sewer capacity, while recognizing that extreme conditions occur during river flooding events; and identifying associated capacity improvements. This paper may be of interest to agencies with collection systems similarly impacted by river conditions in addition to rainfall-dependent inflow and infiltration (RDI/I), or to engineers tasked with developing practical and straightforward models that incorporate inflow and infiltration from multiple sources. The model was developed using InfoWorks® ICM hydraulic modeling software, and the modeling and study were essentially completed in 2025.

Modeling both RDI/I and I/I due to High River Levels Required a Practical Approach that Made Use of Available Data
Challenges in realistically modeling inflow and infiltration in the District's system included an evidently significant impact of antecedent conditions on RDI/I response, resulting in a relatively much larger flow response from later season rainfall events, plus an unknown impact of elevated and flooding river levels. The previous hydraulic model had simply calibrated RDI/I based on late season rainfall events, overestimating the response to early season events, in an attempt to simulate worst case conditions for the purposes of capacity analysis. However, that model calibration proved unable to predict the peak flows to the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in subsequent years when river levels were higher. To improve the model RDI/I calibration and add an I/I component to reflect the impact of high river levels, the model RDI/I was first completely re-calibrated to better represent the varying response to rainfall over entire wet weather seasons. As no new flow data were collected as part of this study, the previous temporary flow meters located throughout the system in 2014 provided the basis for this recalibration. That season proved to be ideal for calibrating rainfall response, as significant rainfall events occurred without accompanying high river levels. Incorporating initial losses combined with daily evaporation estimates in the RDI/I simulation resulted in a much improved representation of the varying response to rainfall over the entire wet weather season. This improved calibration of varying RDI/I response over a full season provided the basis needed to identify additional I/I that could be correlated to high river levels. For calibrating and verifying the response to high river levels as well as the combination of high river levels and rainfall over entire seasons, the model was run for entire wet weather seasons from 2013/2014 through 2024/2025 and compared to WWTP flow data. A river I/I component was added to the model using the InfoWorks ICM ground infiltration model based on time-varying river level data. This approach allowed for flow input from high river levels at any manhole along a gravity line, based on comparison of the river level to the hydraulic gradeline in the manhole. Although many simplifying assumptions are inherent in this approach, it proved effective in better predicting flows to the WWTP over a variety of wet weather seasons. Not insignificantly, this approach was also relatively straightforward to implement with the available data. [b]Provide System Capacity, but Not too Much: Considering the Design Condition[/b] The prior capacity assessment for the District applied a 10-year, 24-hour rainfall event to the model to generate design flows and assess sanitary sewer system performance, which is a fairly typical approach for separate sanitary collection systems in California. This updated study, as well as the several years of observed conditions in the system since that assessment was completed, make it evident that a river level component must also be included in the design condition. Flows in the sanitary sewer system do seem to be affected by elevated river levels during less extreme river flooding events and even during periods when river levels are elevated but still below flood stage thresholds. It is important that the sanitary sewer system be able to handle flows during elevated river stages that occur frequently. However, the design condition must be chosen with care. Even in a typical system, choosing events too extreme could lead to the identification of so many system capacity deficiencies that the cost of improvements would be prohibitive, especially in a relatively small system such as the District's. Additionally, sizing a system for an extreme event could mean that the system does not function well under typical conditions during much lower flows (due to slow velocities in oversized pipes, or oversized pump stations). The District has the added complication that under major Russian River flood events, many manholes, cleanouts, and even pump station wet wells may be submerged under river flood waters. Even though such floods are known to occur in the District's service area, there is a significant risk that attempting to size facilities to accommodate major flood events would lead not only to the issues noted above (prohibitive cost of improvements and impractical sizing of facilities), but could also lead to even more river floodwater entering the sanitary sewer system as capacity is made available. The selected design conditions aimed to balance these needs by using the same 10-year, 24-hour rainfall event as used for the previous study, but adding a 'Moderate Flood' river level event (as defined by the National Weather Service), based on river stage data from an actual moderate flood experienced in February 2025. A secondary design condition also considered a lesser river level below flood stage, but with more stringent capacity standards. Both design conditions identified the same capacity improvement needs, including pipeline upsizing and pump station upgrades.

Conclusion
A straightforward approach to modeling the impacts of elevated river levels in addition to RDI/I in the Russian River County Sanitation District sanitary sewer system resulted in significantly better prediction of flows and provided greater understanding of how the system responds to varied wet weather conditions. Realistic capacity improvement needs were identified. As additional data and observations are collected in the future, the updated model can be further refined to reflect more localized variations in I/I due to elevated river levels.

Mentor Up! How to Start a Mentoring Program That Makes a Difference Abstract Mentorship is a powerful tool for organizational development, succession planning, employee engagement, and leadership growth. As companies strive to retain talent and as employees seek meaningful work experiences, mentoring programs offer a mutual solution-facilitating knowledge transfer, enhancing job satisfaction, and promoting career development. Mentoring also supports diversity and inclusion, fosters innovation, and strengthens leadership pipelines. This presentation explores the strategic implementation of mentoring through the 'three-legged stool' framework: Goal, Audience, and Logistics. It examines traditional one-on-one mentoring alongside expanded models such as group mentoring, reverse mentoring, and peer mentoring, with a focus on inclusivity and participant-driven learning relationships. We address the evolving nature of mentoring in a post-pandemic world, where virtual connections replace in-person meetings, and explore how to maintain meaningful engagement across digital platforms. A real-world case study demonstrates how a small-scale, informal mentorship initiative can be successfully scaled to a structured program in a 1,000-person organization-offering a practical roadmap for building a resilient, inclusive, and high-performing workforce. A. Background In today's dynamic work environment, organizations are increasingly focused on strategies that support employee retention, engagement, and development. At the same time, employees seek fulfillment, purpose, and opportunities for growth in their careers. Mentorship programs have emerged as a highly effective means to address both organizational and individual needs. A structured workplace mentoring program serves as a cornerstone for professional development and organizational learning. By pairing less experienced employees with seasoned mentors, these programs facilitate knowledge transfer, foster continuous learning, and provide guidance on navigating workplace challenges. Mentoring enhances employee engagement, job satisfaction, and retention, while simultaneously supporting succession planning and leadership development. It also contributes to building inclusive workplace cultures by encouraging diverse perspectives and experiences. The benefits are well-documented: 84% of Fortune 500 companies have mentoring programs; 94% of employees say they would stay at a company longer if it invested in their growth; and organizations report significant gains in productivity, employee confidence, and minority representation in leadership roles as a result of mentoring. Mentorship is also mutually beneficial. Mentees gain clarity in career goals, increased confidence, stronger networks, and accelerated professional development. Mentors report increased job satisfaction, intellectual stimulation, renewed purpose, and the opportunity to build a lasting legacy through supporting others. This paper shares the results of one such pilot mentoring program for one company. The reader can take away practices which may fit within their own organization. It investigates diverse mentoring formats-including group, reverse, and peer mentoring-and considers how organizations can adapt to post-pandemic realities through virtual engagement. A case study illustrates how a small-scale initiative in a 100-person company evolved into a formal, scalable program suitable for a larger organization with over 1000 employees, offering practical insights for implementation on a scale. B. Case Study: The Lochner Mentorship Program B.1 Introduction The Lochner Family of Companies launched a pilot mentorship initiative in 2024 to enhance professional development, strengthen internal networks, and evaluate the feasibility of a scalable mentoring framework. The program was designed with a focus on equity, inclusion, leadership cultivation, and employee engagement-particularly among women-and drew inspiration from industry best practices such as the WTS International Mentorship Program. B.2 Program Overview Led by a Chair and Co-Chair with support from the Steering Committee and executive sponsors, the program operated over an eight-month period, from onboarding to graduation. The structure was inspired by successful industry models, including the WTS International Mentorship Program, and incorporated both one-on-one and group learning elements.

Key Goals

Accelerate the personal and professional development of mentees and mentors.
Create a strong cross-functional network across Lochner offices.
Pilot a model to inform the rollout of a firmwide program in 2025. Participation
Mentors: Employees with 5+ years of experience.
Mentees: Primarily women seeking support in career development.
Commitment: Monthly meetings, joint sessions, and a final celebration event. Supervisor approval and confidentiality agreements were required. B.3 Program Management A 10-member Steering Committee was responsible for:

Screening applications and matching mentor-mentee pairs
Developing the curriculum and joint session topics
Facilitating training, check-ins, and feedback surveys
Coordinating logistics for both virtual and in-person events Corporate sponsors and the Marketing and Communications team provided strategic oversight as necessary.

Recruitment and Matching Participants enrolled through a formal application process. A cross-functional Steering Committee-comprising HR, senior leaders, and program stakeholders-reviewed submissions and matched mentors and mentees based on experience, goals, and availability. The matching process was performed manually across an excel spreadsheet reviewing for goals, skills, preferences and experience levels between mentors and mentees. Supervisor approval and signed confidentiality agreements were required to participate. Program Implementation Program Implementation started by developing a training and curriculum agenda.

The program included:
Mentor orientation to standardize expectations and share best practices
Monthly mentor-mentee meetings
Four bi-monthly joint sessions with speakers and roundtable discussions
A final capstone session showcasing participant reflections Each month focused on a core professional development topic:
Month 1: Kickoff and introductions
Month 2: Networking (Joint session + discussion guide)
Month 3: Skill Development (Independent study)
Month 4: Communication (Joint session)
Month 5: Career Goal Setting (Joint session)
Month 6: Workplace Challenges (Joint session)
Month 7: Feedback (Independent study)
Month 8: In-person Celebration & Reflection Joint sessions featured roundtables, panels, and guest speakers, while mentors and mentees received structured discussion guides and resources via Teams. B.4 Capstone Event The 8-month program concluded in May 2025 with a two-day celebration in Austin, Texas. The In-Person Celebration held in Austin, Texas, the closing event featured the following sessions:

Workshops on Elevating Your Influence - Facilitated by Stacy Armijo, focused on strengthening professional influence and strategic communication. The session emphasized the transition from being a task executor to a trusted advisor by uncovering true needs, distinguishing between directives and opinions, and learning to reframe responses to drive collaboration. Participants explored how to tailor communication based on stakeholder roles-from executives to interns-and were encouraged to align their contributions with business-critical priorities such as profitability, efficiency, risk, and talent development. The workshop also addressed common delegation pitfalls and offered strategies for responding constructively to feedback. Interactive components included stakeholder analysis discussions, peer-to-peer definition of constructive criticism, and self-reflection exercises to identify a personal leadership skill for development. Overall, the workshop provided practical tools to enhance influence, increase impact, and promote intentional leadership in professional settings.

A leadership panel with senior industry figures to discuss their leadership journeys - The leadership panel featuring the Chairwoman of the Texas Water Development Board, L'Oreal Stephney, Bob Daigh, Senior Infrastructure Director from Williamson County, and Shay Ralls Roalson, Director of Austin Water Utility, shared their personal leadership journeys and professional insights. From early career reflections to leading people and initiatives, the key takeaways were to:

-- Embrace growth opportunities. o Lead with authenticity and respect.
-- Mentorships accelerate development.
-- A resilient leader listens, adapts, and builds inclusive teams.
-- Final activities, Speed mentoring and group reflection activities to build

The management of water in an urban context can be complicated and critical to a community's sustainability and resilience. Traditionally, stormwater has been confined to fenced basins or hidden underground. In contrast, cities are now realizing the social, ecological, and economic benefits of integrating stormwater treatment into parks and public realm design. While many locations in the Pacific Northwest have focused on higher levels of treatment targeting pollutants such as copper and zinc, protecting anadromous species from emerging contaminants including 6PPD-Q, or protecting sensitive water bodies, regions that experience higher intensity storms and are prone to localized flooding have focused on detention and retention. However, as rainfall intensities continue to increase and the need for redundancy in detention and flow attenuation grows the northwest may need to evolve and learn from other regional approaches. Stormwater facilities locations in the PNW are often selected based upon solely stormwater treatment criteria. Broadening the selection criteria creates a powerful opportunity to reshape how cities build public space, allocate capital, and strengthen neighborhood identity. When community value, public-realm quality, and placemaking potential are added to the selection criteria, stormwater infrastructure can become a catalyst for broader social, environmental, and economic benefits. This session highlights HDR projects where engineering and landscape architecture were jointly leveraged to deliver resilient stormwater systems embedded within vibrant public spaces. Presented by both a stormwater design engineer and landscape architect, multiple perspectives will be shared on how collaborative design can produce infrastructure that is functional, beautiful, and valued by the community. Technical considerations-retaining walls, planting strategies under water supply constraints, and detention modeling that accommodates public use-will also be discussed. Example projects: Historic Fourth Ward Park in Atlanta, GA[ Just north of the birthplace of Martin Luther King, Jr., Atlanta's Historic Fourth Ward neighborhood had become what The Atlanta Journal-Constitution called ‘a barren expanse of cracked concrete, weeds and towering trees surviving against a background of neglect.' Plagued by industrial waste, the lowland area of an urban basin was subject to flooding and combined sewer overflows during storm events. The impetus for Historic Fourth Ward Park emerged from a federal consent decree requiring Atlanta to increase capacity in its combined and separated sanitary sewer service areas. Initial analyses pointed toward a traditional $70 million deep-tunnel system to meet these requirements. By reframing the challenge through an integrated stormwater and public-realm lens, the City instead pursued a park and pond solution costing just $25 million. Since opening in 2010, Historic Fourth Ward Park has catalyzed substantial reinvestment in Atlanta's Old Fourth Ward, transforming previously underutilized industrial land into one of the city's most desirable development districts. Its innovative stormwater infrastructure and high-quality public realm have helped attract more than $2 billion in private investment, demonstrating the powerful economic, social, and environmental benefits that can result when green infrastructure is designed as a central component of community space. The Park's design integrates distinct artistic features, such as 40-foot waterfall, a split stone fountain, ephemeral stylized dry stream, and a stepped stone channel to facilitate the flow of stormwater and celebrate its entrance to the park. Curvilinear retaining walls, walkways, plazas and an amphitheater create a dramatic sense of place for parkgoers. The development of Historic Fourth Ward Park demonstrates the value of sustainable, collaborative design and the positive social, environmental, and economic impact it can have on a community. The park has won numerous awards, including the Project of the Year from Urban Land Institute (2013), Overall Excellence in Smart Growth, Innovation and Achievement from the US EPA (2013), and the Engineering Excellence Award from ACEC. As an Atlanta City Council member said, 'Because the process respected the core values of the Old Fourth Ward-diversity, innovation, and a commitment to social justice - one of the city's most historic neighborhoods is now home to its most forward-thinking park.' Rodney Cook Sr. Park in Atlanta, GA A century ago, Atlanta's Vine City was a bustling neighborhood and center of African American culture in Atlanta. In the 1960s, it became home to America's civil rights leaders. But Vine City declined. In the early 2000's, it was one of Atlanta's most economically distressed communities, characterized by abandoned homes, vacant lots, crime and persistent flooding from an outdated and over-capacity combined sewer system. This culminated in 2002, when heavy rain damaged the neighborhood. Many residents, unable to rebuild, sold their plots to the city which subsequently sat empty for more than a decade. Rodney Cook Sr. Park is a transformative urban greenspace that integrates advanced stormwater engineering with community-centered park design. Serving as a critical component of the neighborhood's watershed management strategy, the park captures and stores up to ten million gallons of stormwater, significantly reducing chronic flooding. Its green infrastructure system includes bioretention cells, stormwater planters, an infiltration lawn, constructed wetlands, and a two-acre wet pond that enhance water quality. An underground cistern supplements pond levels and supports long-term hydrologic performance. The park's engineering framework is woven into a multifunctional public space that strengthens neighborhood resilience and identity. A diverse set of amenities, including a destination playground, great lawn, multi-purpose courts, fitness areas, boardwalks, public art, and overlooks, create a vibrant civic destination. By uniting ecological function with thoughtful landscape architecture, Rodney Cook Sr. Park demonstrates how stormwater infrastructure can shape a healthier, more connected, and more resilient urban community. This pivotal project represents a collaborative design effort between The Trust for Public Land, the City of Atlanta Departments of Watershed Management and Parks and Recreation, The National Monument Foundation, and most importantly, the residents of Vine City. The park has won numerous awards, including Honorable Mention in Landscape Category for Planet Positive Awards by Metropolis Magazine (2023), First Place for Innovative Water Projects for Large Population for NAFSA (2023), and the Grand Award for Engineering Excellence for ACEC (2022). Radio Park in Calgary in Alberta, Canada Radio Park is positioned as the heart of the 84-acre West District master plan, a high-density, mixed-use neighborhood. Radio Park combines green-infrastructure engineering and landscape-architecture design to create a functional stormwater management facility for the West District while inviting the public to appreciate and enjoy vital ecological processes. Its design is intentionally woven into the fabric of the district, shaping adjacent development and serving as a central organizing element of the emerging neighborhood. Radio Park represents a unique precedent in the integration of stormwater management and public open space within a privately led development. Unlike the two previous case studies delivered through municipal initiatives, Radio Park was conceived and executed by Truman Development Corporation as part of the West District master plan. The developer pursued an innovative strategy: overlapping the land required to satisfy the City's public open-space requirements with the land typically reserved for stormwater storage. This approach allowed the creation of an 8.4-acre central park that functions simultaneously as a civic amenity, ecological system, and district-scale stormwater facility. At the heart of the park is a wet pond that serves as both the primary stormwater basin and the unifying landscape feature. Surrounding elements, including a wetland, littoral planting shelves, and a series of overlooks, enhance water quality, habitat value, and visitor experience. Complementary amenities such as a pathway, playground, and aerating waterfall provide passive recreation opportunities while reinforcing the park's role as a social and educational destination. The presentation will examine the planning and design considerations used to merge functional infrastructure with high-quality public realm. Radio Park demonstrates how private development can deliver multifunctional open space that meets municipal standards, supports ecological performance, and elevates the identity and value of an emerging urban district.

Background: The City of Virginia Beach Department of Public Utilities (DPU) operates a 3,200 kilometer (2,000-mile) sanitary sewer system, including 414 pump stations and 300 kilometers (190 miles) of force mains that pump flow to the Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) collection systems. DPU uses hydraulic models of each pump station's upstream gravity pipes (referred to here as 'service areas') to support operations and capacity planning. The current methodology for analyzing pump station capacity was developed to streamline master planning and allow DPU to rapidly assess potential impacts from proposed development. However, the current methodology does not reflect the dynamic and time-dependent characteristics of rainfall-derived infiltration and inflow (RDII) that occur in response to a storm. Consequently, a pilot study was developed to evaluate a revised methodology that considers dynamic flow conditions, pump head conditions, and uses the upstream gravity system for temporary storage of peak flows. In future master planning efforts, this revised methodology will be utilized in a hybrid approach to conduct deeper analysis when warranted to size pump station improvements and confirm how the interaction of manifolded pump stations affects capacity. This paper and presentation discuss the findings of the pilot study, which focused on the 2.83 square-kilometer (700-acre) Resort Area subsystem containing four manifolded pump stations and their associated service areas along the oceanfront in northeastern Virginia Beach (Figure 1). This subsystem was modeled in InfoWorks ICM. A boundary condition was applied at the connection point where the manifolded force mains from the four pump stations discharge to the HRSD regional force main (Figure 2). Current vs Revised Methodologies: The current DPU methodology for evaluating pump station capacity has three key characteristics, as well as a defined deficiency criterion for insufficient capacity. First, the current methodology assigns constant wastewater flows to each pump station, calculated by summing average flows from all developed parcels based on their land use class codes and applying a peaking factor based on land use type for peak flow. As this method does not account for any time-varying characteristics from RDII in response to rain events, the revised methodology used unit hydrographs developed for each service area from the regional hydraulic model and scaled them to reach the same service area-specific peak flow for a design storm with a 2-year average recurrence interval (Figure 3). The current methodology also assumes a constant boundary condition at the connection to the HRSD system. The level for this boundary condition is determined by HRSD's typical simulated pressures at each connection point during wet weather conditions. However, using a constant boundary condition potentially overestimates head during the rising and falling limbs of a storm while underestimating head at the storm's peak. Instead, the revised methodology utilized a variable water level time series, derived from a regional hydraulic model using the same 2-year storm (Figure 4). This variable boundary condition dynamically changes throughout a rainfall event, meaning that pump stations will operate against higher head during peak conditions and will pump more flow once the head decreases after the storm. The dynamic water level boundary condition was applied at the Resort Area subsystem's connection point to the HRSD system. In the current methodology, only the specific pump station under review when evaluating manifolded systems is simulated; all other pump stations in the subsystem are excluded. This does not allow for interaction between pump stations within a subsystem and head conditions created by simultaneous operation of manifolded pump stations. The revised methodology addresses this limitation by always simulating all pump stations in the manifolded subsystem. Finally, according to the current methodology, pump station capacity is considered inadequate if the firm pumping capacity, defined as the intersection of the pump curve and the system head curve, is less than the constant peak inflow when the largest pump is out of service. However, if the constant modeled peak inflow (Figure 3) exceeds firm pumping capacity, then the pump station operates higher on the pump curve, leading to elevated wet well levels and potential backup into the upstream gravity system (Figure 5). The pilot study defines 'gravity storage' as this flow that is backed up from the pump station into the upstream gravity system and is temporarily held until the wet well level drops and flow can enter the pump station without constraint. If a pump station in a manifolded subsystem is deemed deficient using the current methodology, the resulting slated upgrade will cause a higher pressure head against which the manifolded pump stations will operate. This could result in more inefficient operation at these pump stations, as they will operate higher on their head curves, and subsequently a chain reaction may occur where these pump stations in turn could be deemed deficient. Ultimately, prematurely upgrading one pump station may lead to early capital costs for upgrades and higher operational costs at all nearby manifolded stations. The revised methodology alters the deficiency criteria to include upstream gravity storage, which is maximized due to the area's flat topography and resulting minimal pipe slopes. Under this definition, a pump station is flagged as deficient only if the upstream gravity system cannot store peak flow without dropping below a minimum 0.46 meters (1.5 feet) of freeboard (Figure 6). Findings: To illustrate the effects of this pilot study, the capacity of pump station 129 within the Resort Area subsystem was analyzed within three scenarios: Scenario 1: The current methodology was applied with constant peak inflow to the pump station during a wet weather event (Figure 3), a constant boundary condition at the connection to the HRSD system, exclusions of pump stations 116, 117, and 120 during the analysis, and following the deficiency criteria of peak inflow exceeding firm pumping capacity. Under these conditions, pump station 129's constant peak inflow greatly exceeded the firm pumping capacity (Figure 7). Therefore, the pump station was considered deficient under the current methodology and would be slated for replacement. Scenario 2: As an intermediate case study, this scenario uses three of the four conditions present in the revised methodology. A unit hydrograph was used in lieu of a constant peak inflow (Figure 3), a variable water level boundary condition was applied at the connection point to the HRSD system (Figure 4), and the revised deficiency criteria was applied to include upstream gravity storage. However, only pump station 129 was simulated in this intermediate scenario to illustrate the importance of allowing interactions between manifolded pump stations. Due to influence from the unit hydrograph and variable boundary condition, the pump station 129 wet well began to back up into the upstream gravity system, but the minimum freeboard upstream of the pump station remained greater than 0.46 meters (1.5 feet), so the pump station was not considered deficient (Figure 8). Scenario 3: The full revised methodology was applied. This scenario included all four Resort Area subsystem manifolded pump stations operating at full capacity, creating head conditions against which all pump stations operated. This caused more inefficient operation, higher wet well levels, and therefore more backup into the upstream gravity system. The minimum freeboard upstream of pump station 129 was less than 0.46 meters (1.5 feet), so this pump station would be considered deficient under the revised methodology (Figure 9). In a hybrid approach to master planning, since pump station 129 was considered deficient under both the current and revised methodologies, it would be slated for replacement with confidence that an increase in capacity is necessary. Significance: This pilot study is primarily applicable to utilities with low-slope gravity systems, as well as utilities with high densities of manifolded pump stations. The dynamic, time-dependent evaluation of pump station capacity and incorporation of upstream gravity storage into the revised deficiency criteria provides a more realistic analysis of pump station performance and helps inform cost-effective operational and capital decisions. Specifically, fewer pump stations will be prematurely replaced due to capacity limitations and improved pump operation will reduce long term maintenance costs. DPU will use this revised methodology for pump station master planning. The methodology could be used by other utilities with similar topography and operations to support informed decisions regarding pump station capacity evaluation and replacement.

Existing stormwater management facilities (e.g., detention basins, water quality basins) represent substantial historical infrastructure investments. However, these systems have often been designed using methods (e.g., peak event matching) that do not address the effects of hydromodification, and may need to be expanded in order to address current watershed management challenges and enhanced control objectives brought about by increasing urbanization, changing climate and regulatory pressure. Expansion of existing facilities can pose a major financial burden to MS4 agencies and may be limited by requirements to also maintain the original design basis of the facility. However, technology advances over that last decade in continuous monitoring and adaptive control (CMAC) of distributed infrastructure allow existing infrastructure to be used more effectively rather than increasing the size of existing facilities and/or building new facilities. Similar to SCADA systems for water and wastewater, this modern approach for stormwater involves aggregating information from on-site sensors (e.g., water level, flow rates), weather forecasts (e.g., probability of precipitation, quantitative precipitation forecast), and other potential information (e.g., streamflow data, precipitation data) in order to make automated decisions about when and how to store or release water. These improvements in function can often be achieved with minimal changes to the current physical infrastructure, avoiding the need for substantial land acquisition and/or earthwork. [b]Original Pilot Implementations[/b] Clean Water Services (District) has evaluated the use of real time controls as part of its District-wide stormwater management approach, specifically with Opti's CMAC technology. The initial two pilot projects using CMAC technology were implemented in 2016 (Figure 1). By preparing for forecasted storm events in advance and calculating the minimum release rate from the pond on a minute-by-minute basis during storm events, both applications were intended to enhance hydromodification control performance in more frequent 'channel forming' events while maintaining the original flood control purpose of the facilities in major events. These systems were also expected to achieve improvements in water quality performance compared to passive systems. Finally, the real time control solution provides the ability to adapt system operations in response to feedback from monitoring data and/or changes in watershed characteristics. Based on the initial successes of these pilots (Figure 2), the District explored additional opportunities for retrofit projects, and evaluated the cost and benefits of this approach (i.e., the 'business case'). This evaluation included:

Identification and prioritization of opportunities for additional real time control retrofits, including a District-wide GIS-based screening (Figure 3).
Modeling case studies of the benefits of real time controls at the scale of individual facilities, and for multiple facilities networked within a subwatershed (Figure 4).
Whole lifecycle cost comparison of real time control approaches to passive alternatives. The District also developed a long term strategy or 'roadmap' for broader implementation of real time controls, including integration with existing monitoring and information technology systems, installation methods, system operations and adaptations to maintain and improve performance, facility operations and maintenance, integration with flooding emergency response, and project phasing. District IT staff, maintenance personnel, capital improvement engineers, and system operators have contributed to this effort. Based on these efforts two more projects have been implemented in the watershed, with more planned for future implementation.

Reflecting on a Decade of Smart Stormwater Management:
A decade later, the team is reflecting on the pilot process, operations, and performance of these systems, specifically:

What were the challenges to implementing the pilot projects?
Are the sites performing as expected compared to the initial modeling?
What have been the benefits and challenges of operating CMAC systems over the past 10 years?
How is the District progressing with the long term strategy of broader implementation?
What are the opportunities and barriers to broader implementation?

This presentation will include:
(1) lessons learned from pilot project implementations,
(2) challenges and opportunities from the operation of CMAC over the last 10 years (Figure 5),
(3) measured performance evaluation compared to the initial modeled performance (Figure 6), and
(4) progress and challenges in broader implementation of CMAC across the watershed. The findings from this effort are expected to be transferrable to other MS4 permittees and stormwater designers who are considering innovative strategies to address challenging stream protection, pollutant load reduction requirements, and associated BMP retrofit obligations.

Aging wastewater collection systems face increasing failure rates, yet most utilities lack systematic, data-driven methods for optimizing sensor deployment to monitor infrastructure risk. This study presents a six-stage computational framework that integrates GIS-based network reconstruction, machine learning-based failure probability estimation, composite risk quantification, directed graph-based hydraulic coverage modeling, submodular optimization, and Bayesian adaptive updating to determine optimal sensor placement in large-scale sewer networks. The framework was applied to a large municipal collection system comprising 33,474 nodes (manholes, pump stations, vaults, and virtual junctions) and 33,349 pipe segments (gravity and force mains). In Stage 1, the network graph was constructed from GIS shapefiles using a spatial snapping tolerance of 50 ft under a projected coordinate system (State Plane). The raw GIS data exhibited significant topological fragmentation, with 130 disconnected components and only 29.8% of nodes contained within the largest component. To address this, additional asset layers were integrated, and virtual junction nodes were algorithmically generated at pipe-to-pipe intersections lacking explicit connectivity. Following reconstruction, the largest connected component increased to 89.4% of the network, representing a 59.6 percentage point improvement. Topological validation confirmed full network integrity, including resolution of duplicate nodes and missing identifiers. This step ensures hydraulic consistency and enables reliable graph-based analysis. In Stage 2, pipe-level failure probabilities (P_i) were estimated using a Random Forest classifier (200 trees, maximum depth = 10, class-weight balanced) trained on 12 engineered features derived from asset attributes and historical condition data. These included pipe age, diameter, material encoding, slope, length, force main indicator, and failure proxies from inspection databases, maintenance records, and overflow history. The model achieved an AUC of 0.808 under stratified validation, indicating strong discriminative performance despite class imbalance. Feature importance analysis identified pipe age, inspection frequency, and pipe length as dominant predictors. The trained model generated probabilistic failure estimates for all network edges, providing a continuous risk likelihood surface. In Stage 3, a composite risk metric (R_i = P_i × S_i) was computed, where S_i represents a multi-criteria severity index incorporating asset characteristics and network criticality. For pipes, S_i integrates diameter, material vulnerability, force main status, and structural connectivity. For nodes, S_i reflects asset type, network centrality (degree), and component membership. The resulting risk distribution exhibits significant spatial heterogeneity, with concentrated high-risk corridors aligned with older infrastructure and hydraulically critical segments. This risk surface serves as the objective function for subsequent optimization. In Stage 4, a directed flow graph was constructed using pipe invert elevations to enforce gravity-driven flow directionality. Hydraulic reachability was evaluated using upstream breadth-first search (BFS) constrained by a detection threshold distance (H_d = 50 ft). Candidate sensor locations were defined at physically accessible nodes within the main connected component. Approximately 86.8% of nodes qualified as candidates, collectively providing theoretical coverage of 87.1% of edges and 93.3% of total network risk. This defines the feasible monitoring envelope and highlights structural limits imposed by network topology and elevation gradients. In Stage 5, sensor placement was formulated as a weighted maximum coverage problem and solved using a greedy submodular optimization algorithm with lazy evaluation. The objective was to maximize cumulative uncovered risk captured by K sensors. The resulting risk capture curve demonstrates clear diminishing returns consistent with submodular behavior. Early placements yield high marginal gains, with 20 sensors capturing 18.3% of total risk and 50 sensors capturing 30.2%, while 160 sensors are required to exceed 50% coverage. Even at K = 500, total coverage reaches 72%, indicating that full observability is constrained by network structure and hydraulic detectability. These results provide a quantitative basis for budget-constrained, phased deployment strategies. In Stage 6, an adaptive Bayesian updating module incorporated time-series data from existing sensors to refine failure probability estimates. Sensor anomaly scores were derived from multiple statistical indicators, and multiplicative Bayesian updating was applied to adjust P_i values for hydraulically connected upstream assets. Re-optimization results demonstrated high solution stability, with strong agreement between original and updated sensor placements. This confirms that the framework is robust while remaining responsive to new monitoring information. The proposed framework is scalable, computationally efficient, and transferable to other collection systems using commonly available GIS and asset management data. By explicitly integrating predictive modeling, network topology, and hydraulic detectability within an optimization framework, this approach provides a rigorous foundation for transitioning from reactive maintenance to proactive, risk-informed monitoring. The results further demonstrate that optimal sensor placement is jointly governed by failure likelihood, consequence severity, and network-driven observability constraints, offering utilities a defensible and quantitative strategy for intelligent sensor deployment.

Utilities and municipalities are under increasing pressure to make faster, better-informed decisions before, during, and after storm events. Yet in many organizations, rainfall forecasting, system operations, model analysis, and resilience planning still occur in separate workflows. This presentation describes a more connected approach: an AI-enabled operational framework that brings these functions together to support both immediate flood response and longer-term stormwater system improvement. The work centers on urban flooding and sewer system applications, where short lead times, rapidly changing rainfall patterns, and network complexity demand timely and reliable decision support. Digital ecosystems leveraging AI layers that integrate radar-based rainfall ingestion, short-horizon nowcasting, field observations, and physics-based hydrologic and hydraulic models can provide a continuously updated picture of expected system conditions. These tools can be used to translate gridded rainfall into model-ready inputs, accelerate scenario evaluation, and support operational decisions related to conveyance, storage, real-time control, and flood management. A key message of the presentation is that AI delivers the most value when paired with established engineering models and domain expertise. In this setting, machine learning is used to improve rainfall processing, forecast skill, uncertainty characterization, and computational efficiency, while hydraulic models preserve physical realism and operational credibility. The result is a practical workflow that helps teams move from raw data to actionable guidance on the timescales required for urban flood management. The same workflow also supports post-event learning. By comparing forecasts, observations, and modeled system performance, practitioners can identify where predictions were accurate, where system behavior differed from expectations, and how model parameters, operating strategies, or resilience priorities should be updated. This creates a repeatable feedback loop in which each storm improves the next forecast, the next operational response, and the next planning decision.

Many utilities face significant corrosion challenges in their sewage collection systems caused by hydrogen sulfide. These corrosion issues, and often associated odor problems, are increasing due to stricter industrial waste controls (heavy metals), widespread drinking water conservation efforts, and the shift toward larger, centralized wastewater treatment facilities. These trends often result in more wastewater with a low dissolved oxygen concentration resulting in conditions conducive for sulfide generation, contributing to extensive infrastructure damage-costing hundreds of millions of dollars and, in some cases, leading to sewer collapses in densely populated areas. Traditionally, utilities manage odor and corrosion reactively, relying on temporary or expensive interventions. Identifying the underlying causes remains difficult, partly because reliable methods for predicting corrosion and infrastructure failures have historically been limited by both the complexity of the processes and the lack of suitable computational tools. Sewer process modeling provides a powerful, proactive approach for understanding system-wide behavior and evaluating mitigation strategies. Before such modeling tools were available, utilities determined the most effective chemicals and doses for odor control through costly, time-consuming trial and error field testing. In contrast, comprehensive sewer process models enable instant evaluation of treatment chemicals, prediction of impacts on downstream treatment plants, and estimation of airflow requirements for vapor-phase treatment. This presentation will introduce conceptual sewer process modeling and demonstrate its benefits and potential cost savings. Several case studies will be presented, including:

System wide optimization of chemical dosing locations for odor and corrosion control.
A project where modeled ventilation airflows informed dosing strategies that reduced odor control chemical costs by $430,000 per year.
An example showing how the model helped evaluate and select an alternative solution that directly addressed the source of persistent odor issues to improve community relations.

Attendees will gain an understanding of the modeling approach, practical applications, and opportunities for substantial cost and operational efficiencies. Figure 1 - An example from a case study - once upon the time there was a maintenance hole. Figure 2 - Case study illustrating a system-wide holistic approach to identify whether issues are being local or systemic. A local problem applies to a small area of the catchment, one tributary of the collection system or one single pump station and has an end point. A systemic problem applies to all parts of the catchment and/or gradually increasing along with the collection system. A systemic issue might be caused by multiple minor inputs causing significant problems in the carrier as it travels downstream. The purpose of this classification is to narrow down the possible solutions that can be applied to the problem, thus arriving at the preferred option more expediently. Figure 3 - Case study identifying priority zones for cost-effective mitigation.

Utilities across the United States and globally are being faced with the increasing challenge of planning infrastructure investments which will meet their community's needs for the next 25-50+ years when future demand scenarios or needs are becoming harder to predict. Despite unprecedented access to data for guiding plans, managing uncertainty about future conditions and ensuring flexibility have become central to capital improvement and master planning. Considering a wide variety of possible infrastructure investments and potential system demands to ensure a system can appropriately support future growth is a challenging and time-consuming process, even with the power of modern hydraulic computer modeling. To build resilience and operational flexibility into their CIP, Pinellas County Utilities (PCU) partnered with Wade Trim to streamline CIP development and address required updates to the hydraulic system. PCU has two distinct basins within their wastewater collections network, North and South. The collections systems within these basins had different challenges to address to meet their overall CIP objectives, which required potential solutions to be developed for each basin separately. For the South Basin, one major focus was on the rehabilitation of collections pipes to reduce inflow & infiltration (I&I)-related capacity demand. To explore where and how to do this, the PCU team was considering over 135 areas to invest in system improvements involving 5 technologies. The primary issue was uncertainty around the real-world effectiveness of each of those technologies and finding the most cost-effective solution from hundreds of thousands of potential combinations of the 5 technologies. For the North Basin, concern was capacity issues related to undersized sewers and pump stations leading to spills, and oversized sewers which caused low velocity in dry weather. The variability in potential future growth in the area required a potential overhaul of the flow throughout the basin on top of addressing the existing capacity issues. The adjustment in flow within the basin led to 4 very different operational and CIP scenarios, each of which leading to a different set of upgraded pipes and pump station. Using this information, they were able to identify common projects across all the operational scenarios. This offered a high degree of certainty on how they could approach their CIP investments despite the uncertainty of the future capacity needs. Wade Trim and PCU primarily used the Optimization software from Optimatics to sort through hundreds of thousands of potential solutions, balancing tradeoffs between hydraulic performance and costs by using genetic algorithms to narrow in on the highest-performing and most cost-effective solutions. Integrating a hydraulic model into optimization software results in a uniquely robust analysis of the network to efficiently find solutions that best meet a range of criteria, objectives, and constraints. This approach enabled them to systematically and objectively explore different ways they could address the existing deficiencies within their collections system, but through solutions that will meet their future capacity needs. Through the Optimization tool, the interdependence between specific projects and performance outcomes within the two basins were also explored, enabling the systems to be adjusted based on information gathered by previous iterations and runs, called 'Operational Flexibility'. This level of insight underpins clear, objective decision-making by highlighting infrastructure and operations choices which meet performance criteria in multiple scenarios for a resilient CIP. What was identified very quickly using optimization was different projects in the resulting plans which were interchangeable to solve sewer overflow problems. Discussing these resulting projects created the opportunity to choose effective solutions that also aligned with PCU's strategic preferences (e.g. avoiding upstream tanks). The plans developed through optimization also offered substantial cost savings for implementation. Overall, this presentation showcases the analytical framework, optimization strategies and decision-making that drove improvements to the Pinellas County CIP plan, demonstrating the impact that the Optimization tool has on developing solutions. Navigating uncertainty with confidence is the power that comes from leveraging the power of optimization to effectively integrate operational flexibility into infrastructure investment plans. PCU was able to use evolving digital tools to answer complex questions to direct how to invest resources to best address their collection system needs today and well into the future.

The Integrated Planning Framework was issued by EPA in 2012, but the concept and use of many of the tools stretches back almost a full decade earlier. Integrated planning is a voluntary approach to prioritize Clean Water Act (CWA) obligations for stormwater and wastewater and to account for drinking water obligations under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Integrated planning provides great promise for municipalities, regulatory agencies, and other stakeholders to achieve better water quality faster than traditional capital improvement planning. Even though the Framework has been around for almost 15 years, relatively few communities have embarked on integrated planning. This fact was the catalyst for the Water Environment Federation's (WEF's) forming of the Integrated Planning Task Force, numerous webinars, and the recently published Roadmap. Subsequent workshops for WEF Member Associations (MAs) are planned to help communities confidently proceed down the road of integrated planning. In October 2011, EPA issued a memorandum recognizing that a 'comprehensive and integrated planning approach to a municipal government's CWA wastewater and stormwater obligations offers the greatest opportunity for identifying cost-effective and protective solutions and implementing the most important projects first' (USEPA 2011). The memorandum provides guidelines for local governments to assess their stormwater and wastewater requirements, and then develop priorities based on locally derived environmental benefit. That memorandum was followed by a Draft Integrated Planning Approach Framework in January 2012 and issuance of the Framework in final form in June 2012 (USEPA 2012). The discussion on the best way to address how municipal CWA programs could be better integrated on a watershed basis has been ongoing for close to 30 years (see USEPA 1994; USEPA 2002; USEPA 2003; USEPA 2007). Pursuant to the CWA, municipalities are required to manage wastewater treatment plant discharges, collection system operation and maintenance, sewage sludge disposal and/or reuse, industrial wastewater via the pretreatment program, and municipal and industrial stormwater. Stormwater discharges are intermittent, somewhat unpredictable, and not easily characterized, making it difficult for municipalities to manage the discharges, and for National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting authorities to set control requirements. In order to assist municipalities and NPDES authorities accomplish their missions in an economical yet responsible manner, the EPA has proposed a number of strategies over the years to address management of all of these programs in a holistic manner (USEPA 2002; USEPA 2003; USEPA 2007). Section 402(s) was added to the CWA in January 2019 as part of the Water Infrastructure Improvement Act (WIIA) (H.R. 7279) and included the 2012 Integrated Municipal Stormwater and Wastewater Planning Approach Framework. This provision requires NPDES permitting authorities to inform municipalities that they have the option to develop an integrated plan that may be incorporated into permits, consent decrees, or administrative orders. In 2004, Clean Water Services (CWS), a public water resources management utility in Oregon, was issued the nation's first integrated, municipal watershed-based NPDES permit which included Oregon's first approved and implemented water quality trading program. This permit has been very successful at generating environmental improvement because it allows the District to focus resources on issues that have the potential for the greatest beneficial impact on the environment. In 2014, the City of Richmond began working on the RVA Clean Water Plan. Richmond applied EPA's Integrated Planning Framework and Watershed Management concepts to form an integrated water resources management framework that is documented in the Clean Water Plan. A product of extensive public outreach, the Plan outlines a process that allows the City to efficiently evaluate, manage, and implement water quality programs and work toward their goals and objectives. These efforts culminated in the first integrated permit in the state that encompasses the City's wastewater, combined sewer overflows, and stormwater discharges. In 2025, WEF published the Integrated Planning Roadmap, designed to be a user-friendly guide for integrated planning. The Roadmap provides guidance to those who are just starting on an integrated planning effort and to help those who might be struggling with full implementation of their planning goals. Divided into chapters which focus on practical real-world advice, the Roadmap outlines nine steps to planning an integrated plan. This presentation and manuscript will examine the evolution of Integrated Planning through a discussion of the development of the Framework and the addition of Integrated Planning to the CWA through an amendment of section 402(s) to provide clear legal authority for integrated plans and Congressional support for use of the integrated plan process on a long-term basis. An additional part of the amendment required EPA to report on each integrated plan developed and implemented through a permit, order, or judicial consent decree since the issuance of the Framework, and this 2021 Report to Congress will also be discussed. Finally, the presentation will include discussion of case studies including Clean Water Services in Oregon and the RVA Clean Water Plan in Richmond and conclude with an overview of the Roadmap.