TO: Board of County Commissioners
THROUGH: John A. Titkanich, Jr., County Administrator
FROM: Kylie Yanchula, Natural Resources Director
DATE: October 29, 2025
SUBJECT: The Nature Conservancy Runoff to Resilience Pilot Project
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BACKGROUND
The Nature Conservancy’s Brightstorm program is pioneering a Smart Watershed Network Management (SWNM) approach that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to optimize stormwater pond performance. Building on a decade of data, the program aims to retrofit existing stormwater infrastructure with smart technology to improve water quality, reduce flooding, and restore natural hydrology. A pilot project in the Indian River Lagoon will test this networked system to combat nutrient pollution that has severely impacted seagrass beds. The project seeks to demonstrate scalable, science-based solutions that can influence policy and be replicated across Florida and beyond.
In February of 2025, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) presented the concept of a Runoff to Resilience Pilot Project to the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program Council given an interest in locating the project within the Indian River Lagoon watershed. Since that time, TNC has been working with St. Johns River Water Management District, Indian River County, and the University of Florida to identify potential stormwater management systems that can retrofitted and networked together for the pilot project. A series of privately managed stormwater networks were identified and TNC has been working with the respective HOAs on partnering for the pilot project. TNC has put in a legislative budget request to fund this project and has asked that the County write a letter in support of the project.
The expected outcome of the Runoff to Resilience Pilot Project is that it will demonstrate that through the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning, performance of existing st...
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