What Stormwater Teams Told Us They Need - And How Forerunner Delivers It

At the 2025 Utah Floodplain & Stormwater Management Conference, practitioners across engineering, public works, and MS4 programs shared a common sentiment: “Our work is getting more complex - but our tools aren’t keeping up.”

Across the country, stormwater programs are navigating a rapidly changing landscape: more intense rain events, aging infrastructure, new regulatory expectations, and greater public visibility. Teams are expected to respond faster, document more, collaborate across departments, and maintain compliance despite limited time and resources.

We hear these same themes from the communities already using Forerunner to support their stormwater operations. While every locality is unique, the friction points are consistent: fragmented information slows teams down, field data is hard to trust, and staff spend too much time managing systems instead of managing water.

Rather than adding another specialized application, teams are looking for ways to bring their work together. Here’s how we’re addressing those needs today.

1. MS4 Compliance That’s Audit-Ready, Not Scrambled

MS4 programs rely on detailed documentation - inspections, SOPs, IDDE investigations, enforcement, and training logs. Yet for many teams, these records live in scattered drives and email threads, making annual reporting a source of anxiety.

We address this with a centralized, timestamped system of record. With Forerunner, all MS4 documentation is captured consistently and easily exported. When reporting season arrives, you aren't retracing steps or rebuilding files - you are simply verifying the data that is already there. Our partners report preparing MS4 reports faster, with fewer gaps and total confidence in their compliance.

2. A Real-Time Geospatial View of the Entire System

Stormwater management is spatial work, yet many teams still rely on static PDFs or outdated GIS exports that don’t reflect field conditions.

Forerunner provides the unified geospatial foundation teams are asking for. We deliver a live map that brings together pipes, basins, BMPs, culverts, outfalls, and environmental data (soils, land use, flood hazards) into a single view. When office staff and field crews share the same operating picture, planning discussions become smoother and maintenance shifts from reactive to strategic.

3. Fieldwork That Moves as Fast as the Weather

Inspections shouldn’t require retyping notes at the end of the day. Paper checklists and disconnected apps lead to double entry and backlogs, especially during storms or construction season.

Our mobile tools allow crews to log data instantly. Staff can record photos, observations, flow conditions, and sediment levels on-site, automatically matching every entry to the correct asset. Communities using this workflow have turned multi-week administrative backlogs into real-time data entry.

4. Clear Workflows From Identified Issues to Verified Fixes

Finding a problem is only step one. The real struggle is ensuring issues are documented, assigned, tracked, and closed out.

Forerunner closes the loop between detection and resolution. Our workflow tools allow teams to:

• Turn inspections into actionable tasks instantly.
• Assign ownership and deadlines to specific staff.
• Attach photos and field notes directly to the work order.
• Verify completion before closing the ticket.

When engineers, inspectors, and public works staff work from the same system, resolution times improve significantly.

5. Asset Intelligence, Not Just Records

Stormwater assets aren’t just mapped; they age, fill, erode, and fail. Understanding performance requires knowing the history of the asset.

We help you track the lifecycle of your infrastructure. Forerunner maintains a complete, evolving history of each asset—inspections, maintenance, repairs, and photos. This allows you to identify which BMPs repeatedly underperform or where sediment accumulates fastest, helping you plan capital improvements and document performance for grant applications.

6. Trust-Building Public Communication

Whether it’s a drainage concern or a storm update, residents expect clarity - and fast.

We provide public-facing dashboards that reduce administrative burden. Our resident portals allow the public to submit concerns, access fee information, track project updates, or view real-time notices. This increases transparency while reducing the volume of one-off calls and emails, freeing your staff to focus on the field.

7. Automation That Lightens the Load

Stormwater staff are stretched thin. You need tools that handle the repetitive work so you can focus on high-impact tasks.

Forerunner uses automation to handle the busy work. Our platform helps teams:

• Generate inspection summaries automatically.
• Issue reminders for recurring maintenance.
• Surface high-risk assets based on data patterns.
• Draft letters and documentation for review.

These tools don’t replace professional judgment - they support it by removing the manual steps that delay progress.

Toward More Unified Stormwater Management

Across MS4 programs, public works departments, and engineering teams, we hear a consistent theme: teams benefit when information is easier to access, share, and trust. Much of what we’ve built reflects that feedback. If you’re interested in how other communities are approaching these challenges, we’re happy to share how Forerunner is being used today.