Henry Van Oflen, a Clean Water Specialist with the Board of Water and Soil Resources, presented a final report on a project that used LIDAR and the PTM‑app to identify potential water‑storage and drained‑wetland restoration sites and to speed local decisionmaking.

Van Oflen described two core components: (1) GIS and modeling workflows that smooth ditches, identify depressions, plug outlets to estimate storage volume, depth and drainage area; and (2) a watershed engagement process that brings local partners together to review candidate sites, assess ownership complexity, permitting constraints and multi‑benefit opportunities. He said the project found thousands of candidate sites in pilot watersheds (e.g., 5,000 depressions in one watershed, 33,000 restorable wetlands and several thousand road‑storage sites across samples).

Van Oflen demonstrated that the tool can produce on‑the‑fly hydrographs to estimate peak‑flow reduction and that the approach is a planning‑level tool rather than a full HEC‑HMS or HSPF modeling product. He said the plug‑in will be available through BWSR after additional testing and training for advanced GIS users.

Commission members asked whether the tool accounts for varied geology across the state; Van Oflen said signatures for drained wetlands are found where those wetlands have been drained and that the tool includes some adjustable parameters to tune for different landscapes.

Attribution: Henry Van Oflen, Clean Water Specialist, BWSR, presented the work and answered questions from commissioners and legislators.