The entire state of Minnesota, as a community, is “proactive” in tackling storm water challenges, Andy Erickson, PhD, PE and research manager at St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, who is hosting one of StormCon 2026’s field trips at the University of Minnesota facility, told SWS in an interview.

The state’s stormwater community is “very interconnected, very robust, and very engaged,” Erickson said. "The stormwater professionals in Minneapolis and Minnesota in general are willing to try things, they're willing to experiment, they're willing to innovate, they're looking for innovations.”

"I get most of my research ideas from the stormwater practitioners and professionals,” he said. “I don't even have to come up with the ideas. I just have to find funding to be able to do the research to try to solve those problems.”

"The city of Minneapolis embodies both … the funding and the proactive nature of [the industry,]” Erickson said. “[It] is always looking for partners, always looking to engage, and always looking to collaborate … with partners at the state level, at the local level, at the nonprofit level, at the private level."

The city prioritizes both industry and community perspectives “to understand what their residents value,” he said, “and then use that to inform their stormwater decisions.”

It’s “always looking for opportunities to achieve multiple benefits,” Erickson added, such as “looking at every street reconstruction project they have and they're determining can we narrow the streets a little bit, still provide on-street parking, but use that additional space to implement green infrastructure or other stormwater controls without losing any of the other benefits.”

“Stormwater isn't just an infrastructure issue. It's personal,” Crabb said. “In Minneapolis, we drink surface water, swim in it, and understand our connections to our neighbors downstream.”

“A century ago, the Mississippi River in Minneapolis was so polluted it was considered essentially dead,” she said. “Today, it's healthy enough to support the reintroduction and long-term survival of native mussel populations. It’s a powerful example of what's possible through decades of intentional restoration and stewardship.”

For stormwater professionals looking to learn from a city that has spent a century investing in stormwater management and recovering the quality of the water it’s built around, StormCon 2026 offers a front-row seat. You can register for the conference, explore field trip details and preview the conference program at stormcon.com.