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Urban drainage systems face increased floods and combined sewer overflows due to climate change and population growth. To manage these hazards, cities are seeking stormwater digital twins that integrate sensor data with hydraulic models for real-time response. However, these efforts are complicated by unreliable sensor data, imperfect hydrologic models, and inaccurate rainfall forecasts. To address these issues, we introduce a stormwater digital twin system that uses online data assimilation to estimate stormwater depths and discharges under sensor and model uncertainty. We first derive a novel state estimation scheme based on Extended Kalman Filtering that fuses sensor data into a hydraulic model while simultaneously detecting and removing faulty measurements. The system’s accuracy is evaluated through a long-term deployment in Austin’s flood-prone Waller Creek watershed. The digital twin model demonstrates enhanced accuracy in estimating stormwater depths at ungauged locations and delivers more accurate near-term forecasts. Moreover, it effectively identifies and removes sensor faults from streaming data, achieving a Receiver Operating Characteristic Area Under the Curve (ROC AUC) of over 0.99 and significantly reducing the potential for false flood alarms. This study provides a complete software implementation, offering water managers a reliable framework for real-time monitoring, rapid flood response, predictive maintenance, and active control of sewer systems. 

“Smart” water systems are transforming the field of stormwater management by enabling real-time monitoring and control of previously static infrastructure. While the localized benefits of active control are well-established, the potential for system-scale control of watersheds is poorly understood. This study shows how a real-world smart stormwater system can be leveraged to shape streamflow within an urban watershed. Specifically, we coordinate releases from two internet-controlled stormwater basins to achieve desired control objectives downstream—such as maintaining the flow at a set-point, and generating interleaved waves. In the first part of the study, we describe the construction of the control network using a low-cost, open-source hardware stack and a cloud-based controller scheduling application. Next, we characterize the system’s control capabilities by determining the travel times, decay times, and magnitudes of various waves released from the upstream retention basins. With this characterization in hand, we use the system to generate two desired responses at a critical downstream junction. First, we generate a set-point hydrograph, in which flow is maintained at an approximately constant rate. Next, we generate a series of overlapping and interleaved waves using timed releases from both retention basins. We discuss how these control strategies can be used to stabilize flows, thereby mitigating streambed erosion and reducing contaminant loads into downstream waterbodies. 

Leveraging recent advances in technologies surrounding the Internet of Things , “smart” water systems are poised to transform water resources management by enabling ubiquitous real-time sensing and control. Recent applications have demonstrated the potential to improve flood forecasting, enhance rainwater harvesting, and prevent combined sewer overflows. However, adoption of smart water systems has been hindered by a limited number of proven case studies, along with a lack of guidance on how smart water systems should be built. To this end, we review existing solutions, and introduce open storm —an open-source, end-to-end platform for real-time monitoring and control of watersheds. Open storm includes (i) a robust hardware stack for distributed sensing and control in harsh environments (ii) a cloud services platform that enables system-level supervision and coordination of water assets, and (iii) a comprehensive, web-based “how-to” guide, available on open-storm.org, that empowers newcomers to develop and deploy their own smart water networks. We illustrate the capabilities of the open storm platform through two ongoing deployments: (i) a high-resolution flash-flood monitoring network that detects and communicates flood hazards at the level of individual roadways and (ii) a real-time stormwater control network that actively modulates discharges from stormwater facilities to improve water quality and reduce stream erosion. Through these case studies, we demonstrate the real-world potential for smart water systems to enable sustainable management of water resources.