Driving Regulatory Innovation: Advancing CMAC Technology for Climate-Resilient Stormwater Management

Opti has been transforming the stormwater industry with its innovative technology for almost a decade; however, the tangible impacts of climate change have increased our need to adapt to rapidly changing weather patterns. Continuous monitoring and adaptive control (CMAC), also referred to as real-time control or Smart BMPs, is a cost-effective support component to green and gray stormwater infrastructure that can help address site design constraints, improve performance, achieve multiple benefits, and adapt to a changing climate.

The Center for Watershed Protection (CWP) recently released a report (Accounting for Climate Change in Post-Construction Stormwater Standards) that highlighted the importance and necessity of incorporating climate resiliency into post-construction stormwater management standards. As part of this project, CWP identified available stormwater adaptations to address climate impacts, reviewed state post-construction stormwater standards, and provided recommendations on how to increase climate resilience within those standards. Several outcomes of the report related to Smart BMPs:

Encouraging the use of CMAC systems (e.g. “Smart BMPs”) to maximize storage capacity and control outflows was identified as an adaptation strategy for addressing changing precipitation patterns.
Specific recommendations were issued for each state:
- To address the impacts of increased seasonal/annual or event precipitation, it was recommended to “incorporate Smart BMP Technology into standards and provide recommendations for its use in adapting to changing storm patterns”.
- To address low seasonal/annual precipitation or prolonged drought, it was recommended to “incorporate Smart BMP Technology into standards and provide recommendations for its use in maximizing use of water in rainwater harvesting systems”.

The report included at least one - or both - of these recommendations for each of the 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia.

Opti’s regulatory mission is to improve CMAC technology adoption by leveraging data and insights to inform policy and innovation. Accordingly, we are an active member of the stormwater community and routinely engage in efforts to support the development of guidance related to CMAC systems. As a result, we are seeing an increase in approvals for the use of CMAC - at the project and state level - as well as an increase in the inclusion of CMAC references in guidance documents. Notable stormwater approvals and guidance manuals include:

Maryland Department of the Environment has approved the use of Opti’s technology to retrofit wet and dry ponds; these retrofits have assigned pollutant load reduction credits
The Virginia Stormwater Management Handbook lists active/adaptive systems as an accepted design variation for underground detention systems,
The Draft Pennsylvania Post-Construction Stormwater Management Manual identifies adaptive flow control devices as accepted design variations for several types of stormwater control measures as a way to improve volume, water quality, or peak rate performance,
Opti’s technology has been approved and implemented in 4 of the 5 Water Management Districts in Florida, and
EPA has issued a guidance document for the use of CMAC technology in controlling combined sewer overflows (CSOs).

We anticipate that acceptance of CMAC systems will continue to grow as the public and private sector work to incorporate climate resiliency into their stormwater management programs.

If you are aware of any updates to policies or guidance manuals, please reach out to our Director of Regulatory Affairs, Kathy Gee (kdgee@optirtc.com). We are always happy to support the future of stormwater management!

Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year!

Cheers,

Kathy Gee

Director of Regulatory Affairs

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