El NiñO Intensifies: Collection Systems Should Prepare Now

NOAA now puts the probability of a very strong El Niño this fall and winter above 90%, and the odds of a historically strong event at 75% for October to December 2026. Local rainfall totals stay unpredictable, but the stress on collection systems is easier to anticipate. Mary Zappe, Technical Business Development Manager at ADS Environmental Services, argues that overflow exposure, compliance scrutiny, and crew fatigue all intensify when storms arrive back to back, and that dry spells can set up an abrupt jump in wet-weather flow. She also points to where blind spots in rainfall, level, and flow data leave operators exposed. See which gaps to close before the first storm.