Opti and Johnson County Announce Partnership for Flood Mitigation and Water Quality in Lenexa, KS

BOSTON and LENEXA, Kan., June 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Opti, the City of Lenexa, Kansas, and the Johnson County Stormwater Management Program (SMP),  today announced a partnership to address stormwater management challenges in the City of Lenexa. The project will leverage Opti's Internet of Things (IoT) technology to enhance watershed management while mitigating flooding and improving water quality. Through their partnership, Opti and Lenexa/SMP seek to evaluate the multi-use benefit of IoT for stormwater management at the watershed scale.

"Lenexa's Rain to Recreation Program is nationally recognized for its approach to stormwater management," said Tom Jacobs, Lenexa Stormwater Engineer. "We are excited about this project which will allow us to explore new technology for retrofitting existing basins to improve flood control and provide a better water quality benefit at the same time."

The partnership formed through the CMAC At Scale Initiative, an in-kind funding opportunity provided by Opti and the Water Environment & Reuse Foundation's Leaders Innovation Forum for Technology (WE&RF LIFT). The goal of the initiative is to demonstrate the stormwater management benefits of continuous monitoring and adaptive control (CMAC) technology, a cloud based solution to a range of stormwater management challenges. Lenexa is one of ten communities accepted into the nationwide program.

"Communities are increasingly asking important questions about whether they can better use existing facilities to achieve improved water quality and flood control outcomes. Opti is pleased to partner with Lenexa and Johnson County to do just that through this partnership," said Opti CEO Marcus Quigley.

The project entails retrofitting four existing stormwater ponds with advanced stormwater control and performance monitoring systems. The ponds were originally designed to provide flood control and limited water quality benefit, but rain events frequently exceed the ponds' capacity. The addition of CMAC technology will increase the effective storage and water quality capacities of the ponds by automatically adjusting water levels based on real-time NOAA rain forecasts. In addition to adaptive controls, continuous monitoring will collect real-time data from all of the ponds.

"We are excited to be partnering with the City of Lenexa on this project," said Johnson County Stormwater Program Manager Lee Kellenberger.  "Retrofitting existing infrastructure with this kind of smart technology just makes sense. If successful, I could see this as a great tool for communities to reach their stormwater management goals."

The partnership distinguishes Lenexa/SMP as among the first communities to leverage IoT technology for stormwater asset management at the watershed scale. Both Lenexa/SMP and Opti hope to present the results at local and national stormwater conferences in 2017. The target deployment date of the CMAC retrofits is no later than September 30, 2016.

Information on the CMAC at Scale Initiative can be found at https://optirtc.com/cmac-at-scale

About Opti: OptiRTC, Inc., (Opti) is an Internet-of-Things technology company focused on monitoring and control of stormwater infrastructure. Opti's software uniquely combines sensor data, weather forecasts, and proprietary algorithms to optimize stormwater infrastructure through active, cloud-based control. Opti lowers the risk of managing stormwater by making predictive, rather than reactive, decisions to adjust water levels around rain events. By actively managing the rate and timing of stormwater flows, Opti improves the effectiveness of new or existing infrastructure and helps keep natural water bodies clean.
https://optirtc.com/

About SMP: The Johnson County Stormwater Management Program is a department of the County government that partners with the 20 cities in Johnson County as well as other cities, counties and agencies in the Kansas City metropolitan region on stormwater management related issues. SMP partners with Johnson County cities to fund the planning, design and construction of projects to alleviate flooding and improve water quality issues from the broad countywide level of the watershed.
http://www.jocogov.org/dept/public-works/stormwater-management/program-overview

About Lenexa: Founded in 1869, Lenexa is a well-planned community located about 12 miles south of Kansas City, Mo. The 34.3-square-mile city has a resident population of more than 50,000. Lenexa enjoys a healthy business base and is considered a city of choice for a variety of high tech and bioscience companies. The mission of Lenexa is to deliver exceptional public service through a team of dedicated professionals working in partnership with the community.
http://www.lenexa.com/raintorecreation/index.html

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160628/384247

SOURCE OptiRTC, Inc.

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http://www.optirtc.com