IDDE tracking software
IDDE tracking software for municipal stormwater programs.
Track complaints, dry-weather screening, source-tracing, follow-up tasks, and closure on a single thread per incident. Photo and GPS evidence pinned to the record, outfall and receiving-water context on a live map, and audit trails on key compliance records. Built first for small and mid-sized Phase II MS4 permittees.
01 · Where IDDE starts
IDDE incidents come from a lot of places. The intake should not be five different places.
Illicit discharge incidents come into a small Phase II program from public complaints, dry-weather screening, field observations during routine inspections, reported spills, and staff referrals from other departments. The intake source matters for permit reporting. The thread that follows matters even more.
Good IDDE tracking software gets the intake into a typed record fast and keeps the chronology together as the investigation runs. The longer take on this is in the IDDE complaint-to-closure playbook and what IDDE software actually needs to do.
Common IDDE intake sources
- Public complaints from a hotline, web form, or city service request
- Field observations during routine inspections or maintenance
- Dry-weather screening at outfalls
- Reported spills and emergency responses
- Staff referrals from public works, fire, or environmental health
02 · What belongs on the record
One thread per incident. From intake to closure.
An IDDE incident is not a single visit. It is a thread of work that spans complaint intake, screening visits, sample readings, source-tracing across streets, enforcement, and closure. The record should hold all of that on one timeline so the chronology is obvious from the record itself.
The same record connects to other workflows. The connected outfall lives in the asset inventory. The follow-up task lives in the corrective-action queue. The enforcement letter links back to the deficient finding. The full inspection workflow context is on the inspections page.
What belongs on an IDDE record
- Source of the report (complaint, screening, spill, staff referral)
- Date, time, and location with photos and GPS pinned to the record
- Receiving water and outfall connected to the incident
- Field observations, sample readings, and screening results
- Source-tracing visits in chronological order on a single thread
- Follow-up tasks and corrective actions tied to the incident
- Enforcement actions, notices of violation, and closure documentation
- Audit trails on key compliance records and reporting actions
03 · GIS context
Source-tracing is a spatial problem. The map should help.
IDDE investigations are anchored to outfalls and the drainage areas behind them. A coordinator should be able to open the map, click an outfall pin, and see the screening history and any open incidents. When source-tracing moves upstream, the spatial context is the work. The full GIS posture is on the GIS page, and the relationship between MS4 software and ArcGIS is covered in MS4 software vs ArcGIS.
GIS for IDDE
- Outfall and receiving-water layers on a live municipal map
- Click an outfall pin to see the screening history and any open IDDE incidents
- Drainage-area context to support upstream source-tracing
- Filter by status, suspect flow, confirmed illicit, or recently closed
- Designed to coexist with ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Enterprise, or QGIS, not to replace them
04 · What IDDE tracking software should help you answer
Seven questions an IDDE program runs into all the time.
If your software cannot answer these on the spot, the email thread is winning. If it can, the incident has a record that holds up six months later when an auditor asks.
- 01 Where was the issue reported?
- 02 What was observed?
- 03 Which outfall or drainage area is connected?
- 04 Who investigated?
- 05 What follow-up happened?
- 06 Is the issue closed?
- 07 What evidence supports the annual report?
05 · IDDE records and annual reporting
IDDE incidents do most of the heavy lifting on MCM 3.
When a customer is on the Annual Platform, IDDE records flow into the annual report's MCM 3 section automatically. Counts are computed from the actual records logged through the year, not retyped. Each MCM 3 question can link directly to the IDDE incidents and screening records that support it. Smart Draft is an assistive drafting feature inside that workspace; it does not submit, certify, lock, or replace staff review on the report. The full posture is on the Smart Draft page and the Smart Draft and AI disclosure.
NPDESTracker does not submit annual reports to Ecology, EPA, or any state agency on a customer's behalf. The submission step stays with the human at the agency, on the agency's submission channel.
What the Annual Platform adds for IDDE
- MCM 3 evidence linking from IDDE incidents to annual report questions
- Counts derived from the IDDE records logged through the year, not retyped
- Smart Draft assistive drafting from linked evidence (default deterministic, optional external AI is operator-controlled)
- Annual report state machine with certification capture and print-friendly preview
- Permit-specific annual report templates (currently WA Phase II Western 2024-2029)
- Plus the inspection, GIS, and corrective-action workflow underneath
06 · If annual reporting lives elsewhere
Inspection + GIS Starter can hold the field side of IDDE.
Some programs already handle annual reporting in another system and just need a clean workspace for IDDE intake, screening, source-tracing, follow-up, and asset context. The Inspection + GIS Starter is built around that scope. It is a different workspace from the Annual Platform, not a smaller version of it. Full description is on the Inspection + GIS Starter page.
If your program wants the IDDE thread, the inspections, and the annual report all in one workspace, the Annual Platform is the right tier. The full program-level overview is on the MS4 compliance software page.
Starter, for IDDE field tracking
- IDDE complaint intake, screening, and source-tracing on a single thread
- Outfall inventory with screening history and incident links
- Tasks and corrective actions tied to the incident record
- Photo, GPS, and file attachments on records
- GIS workspace with outfall and asset layers
- CSV exports for supported operational records
See it on sample data.
Open the demo to see the daily workspace, or request a guided walkthrough of this module.