Connecting Field Inspections and Stormwater Operations in Madeira Beach, FL

Stormwater infrastructure plays a critical role in protecting coastal communities, particularly during severe weather. However, maintaining that infrastructure requires more than completing inspections and clearing drains. Teams need reliable records of what they find, where work is needed, and what has already been done.

At the 2026 Forerunner Summit, Megan Wepfer, Public Works Director for Madeira Beach, Florida, shared how her team addressed this challenge by moving from paper-based processes to a centralized digital system with Forerunner. With limited staff responsible for maintaining stormwater infrastructure, responding to residents, and meeting regulatory requirements, the city needed a better way to document work and make that information useful across departments.

Make documentation part of the work

Before adopting Forerunner, Madeira Beach relied on paper inspection forms, photos stored on personal phones, and updates shared through group texts. When it came time to prepare reports or answer questions, administrative staff had to piece together information from spreadsheets, messages, and individual records.

Forerunner changed how that information is captured and used. The city imported its existing GIS data and customized forms to fit established processes, allowing crews to document inspections in the field without disrupting their routines. Staff can record findings, capture photos and GPS locations, and link observations directly to the relevant stormwater asset. AI can also draft descriptions of asset conditions from inspection photos, which staff can review and edit.

With inspection details and photos organized alongside each asset's history, information is available for reporting, maintenance planning, permitting, and future inspections as soon as the work is documented. Staff no longer need to reconstruct what happened after the fact, making it easier to follow up on issues and understand an asset's condition over time. Rather than adding another administrative step, the system made documentation part of the work itself.

Give departments a shared view of stormwater infrastructure

When departments rely on different records or have limited visibility into one another's work, it becomes harder to anticipate problems and coordinate decisions.

In Madeira Beach, public works and planning did not always have access to the same information about stormwater assets and maintenance, making it more difficult to identify potential drainage conflicts before construction. By giving both departments access to current asset information and maintenance history, the city has made it easier to spot potential issues earlier and make decisions based on a consistent record.

That shared visibility also makes a difference in day-to-day interactions with residents.

Wepfer described a recent report of a flooded drain. Rather than searching through files or contacting field crews to piece together what had happened, she could review the asset's inspection history and photographs. The records showed that the previous inspection had not identified any issues with the pipe, giving her documented information to draw on when responding to the resident.

It is a small example of a broader change: when records are easy to find and understand, staff can spend less time tracking down information and more time using it to make decisions, coordinate work, and respond to the community.

Build storm readiness into everyday operations

For a coastal community like Madeira Beach, the value of reliable documentation becomes even clearer during a storm.

Hurricane Helene exposed the limitations of the city's previous approach. During recovery, staff relied on printed maps and handwritten notes to track inspections and locate drains clogged with sand. When information lives in separate documents and individual notes, coordinating fieldwork becomes more difficult precisely when teams need to move quickly.

The city has since established a centralized digital record of its stormwater assets, inspections, maintenance, and field observations within Forerunner. Crews can access information through the mobile app while working in areas with limited connectivity, and inspection data can flow back into the city's GIS. This gives staff a more consistent view of conditions in the field and helps connect observations to the records needed for follow-up work.

That continuity matters before, during, and after a storm. Teams can use existing asset and maintenance records to inform preparation, document conditions during response and recovery, and coordinate work with contractors. Rather than starting with scattered notes and trying to assemble a picture of what happened, staff have a shared record to support their next decisions.

Turning better documentation into measurable results

Since adopting Forerunner, Madeira Beach has reduced its NPDES reporting timeline by more than 90%, turning a process that once took weeks into one that can be completed in a few hours.

The time savings reflect a larger shift in how the city manages information. Inspections create usable records from the outset, departments have better visibility into shared infrastructure, and staff can draw on documented history when responding to residents or coordinating work. These improvements help a small team maintain accountability without relying on additional administrative effort to keep information organized.

For other communities looking to modernize public works operations, Madeira Beach's experience offers a practical lesson: better outcomes do not necessarily require reinventing existing processes. By building documentation into daily work, making records accessible across departments, and maintaining reliable information between routine operations and storm response, agencies can get more value from the work their teams already do.

As Wepfer's Forerunner Summit session demonstrated, the goal is not simply to digitize paperwork. It is to make the information generated in the field useful long after an inspection is complete, helping staff coordinate more effectively, respond with confidence, and keep critical infrastructure working for their communities.

Watch the full session: