Abstract: Scientific monitoring of sponge facilities operation can not only provide effective assessment for the construction of sponge city, but also give data feedback and guidance suggestion for sponge cities construction. However, there is no effective method to monitor and evaluate the operation efficiency of natural sponges. Taking the sponge pilot area of a large-scale high-speed railway transportation hub in western Hubei as an example, a monitoring system of natural sponge was established. The water penetration rate monitored by the optical fiber was the basic parameter to explore the functional relationship between it and the water content. Then a main water storage monitoring model of the system was established. Finally, under actual rainfall condition, the monitoring performance of the system in terms of runoff and water saturation early warning was evaluated. The evaluation results showed that the optical fiber sensor monitoring system was with high accuracy in runoff monitoring, and the runoff generation warning time was consistent with the actual one. The optical fiber sensing and monitoring system showed strong adaptability and excellent performance, which provided certain technical support for the automatic operation of sponge city facilities.