The ADS Foundation and The Nature Conservancy’s Brightstorm program will highlight Smart Watershed Network Management (SWNM) at WEFTEC 2026, demonstrating how connected technologies can help communities improve stormwater management using existing infrastructure.

SWNM combines sensors, real-time data and adaptive controls to connect traditionally isolated stormwater systems into a responsive network. According to the organizations, the approach can help infrastructure respond to changing rainfall conditions while reducing flooding, improving water quality and supporting healthier waterways.

The collaboration is also focused on applying lessons from natural systems to engineered stormwater infrastructure. By holding water longer and releasing it more slowly, SWNM is intended to help engineered systems more closely replicate natural watershed processes.

The organizations will discuss the approach during a Sept. 29 panel, “What It Takes to Scale Intelligent, Interconnected Stormwater Infrastructure,” at the Circular Water Economy Pavilion. The panel will include updates from a living lab in Florida’s Indian River Lagoon watershed, where more than 11,000 ponds and lakes provide an opportunity to test smart stormwater technologies across a highly developed watershed.

The ADS Foundation and Brightstorm will also demonstrate SWNM at Booth 3062, including Alluvia, an open-access platform for developing and scaling smart watershed tools. The organizations said the effort will focus on identifying the technology, partnership and policy conditions needed to expand adaptive stormwater management beyond individual projects.