{"id":497830,"date":"2026-10-16T07:38:26","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T07:38:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/497830\/"},"modified":"2026-10-16T07:38:26","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T07:38:26","slug":"officials-review-how-rain-and-ai-affect-stormwater-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/497830\/","title":{"rendered":"Officials review how rain and AI affect stormwater management"},"content":{"rendered":"

The growth of artificial intelligence has fueled the need to build large data centers that use millions of gallons of water every day to cool high-tech equipment. Officials and water experts will discuss AI and more at a regional stormwater summit<\/a> in Southfield on Oct. 16, 2026.<\/p>\n

Jim Nash is Oakland County\u2019s water resources commissioner<\/a>. He\u2019s concerned about what happens when those facilities discharge the water they use.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s potential contamination of heavy metals,\u201d Nash says. \u201cSo, we have to make sure that anything coming out of these facilities is not going to be polluting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nash also says data centers could threaten underground aquifers in areas where people have water pumps instead of municipal water.<\/p>\n

AI has an upside<\/p>\n

But he says AI can be a helpful tool in managing stormwater. Oakland County uses it to inspect the insides of pipes.<\/p>\n

\"\"Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner Jim Nash visits WDET<\/p>\n

\u201cWe used to do it with people looking at videos,\u201d Nash says. \u201cWe\u2019ve used AI and we can train it so (AI) can see things that people can\u2019t see as fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for fears that enemies of the United States could use AI to attack municipal water systems, Nash says he is prepared.<\/p>\n

\u201cOakland County has a very effective IT security team, and we do a lot to make sure our systems are secure,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019ve never had a significant breach.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nature can mitigate flooding<\/p>\n

AI is not the only challenge to managing stormwater. Heavy rainstorms in recent years have caused flooding and overwhelmed Metro Detroit\u2019s sewer and drainage systems.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nash says green infrastructure can help absorb that water and keep it out of sewers. Oakland County just finished a new stormwater project in Pontiac. He says some parks in the city would become muddy and useless after heavy rain.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve changed this using native plants, using all the features of green infrastructure to collect that water,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s a very aesthetically pleasing way of doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oakland County also pays residents up to $2,000 to put green infrastructure such as trees, gardens, and rain barrels to absorb stormwater.<\/p>\n

Nash says the annual stormwater summit promotes regional cooperation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cStorm water does not follow political borders,\u201d he says. \u201cWhere the water flows really matters and all the communities in Oakland County and regionally are working together.\u201d<\/p>\n

The summit takes place at Lawrence Technological University. <\/a>Admission is $35.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The growth of artificial intelligence has fueled the need to build large data centers that use millions of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":497831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[2007,60860,143,904,145,144,11564,193331,75885],"class_list":["post-497830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-ai","tag-ai-infrastructure","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-county","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-stormwater","tag-stormwater-infrastructure","tag-water-treatment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=497830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/497831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}