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LID: Low Impact DevelopmentAlpha Environmental Management Corporation Newsletter Low Impact Development (LID) is a storm water management design which is modeled on the same premise as nature. Essentially, this is the management of rainfall at the source so that it is uniformly distributed as opposed to being collected, conveyed and disposed of elsewhere. LID's goal is to reproduce a site's pre-developed hydrology through the implementation of smaller, cost-effective landscape features located at the lot level. These landscape features, known as Integrated Management Practices (IMPs), is the emphasis of LID. Almost all components of the urban environment have the potential to serve as an IMP. This includes not only open space, but also rooftops, streetscapes, parking lots, sidewalks, and medians. LID is a versatile approach that can be applied equally well to new development, urban retrofits, and redevelopment / revitalization projects. An Ecosystem Based ApproachAlthough the term "low impact development" can be loosely defined (much like sustainable development), the key distinction of LID from these other strategies is that it is an ecosystem based approach. An advantage of LID is the fact that it is not a land use control, but provides ecofriendly tools to plan and engineer any type of land use to maintain or restore a watershed’s hydrologic and ecological functions. Other growth management strategies that emphasize the saving of green space and the redevelopment of existing urban regions can also utilize the retrofit capability of LID in order to promote ecologically-restorative infill developments in impaired waterway areas. The full LID process should begin in the initial land planning stages starting with many of the same conservation and impact minimization principles inherent in other strategies, but excels where others fail by successfully allowing for the enhancement of the in-fill and restoration projects as previously discussed. In conclusion, the LID approach encourages conservation measures, promotes impact minimization techniques such as impervious surface reduction, provides for strategic runoff hydrographs with the use proactive landscape designs, uses management practices to reduce and cleanse runoff, and advocates pollution prevention measures to reduce the introduction of pollutants to the environment. |
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