Low Impact / Green Infrastructure, Historical and Current Implementation for Project Site and Watershed Planning

Low impact development (LID) is defined by the EPA as “systems and practices that use or mimic natural processes that result in the infiltration, evapo-transpiration or use of storm water in order to protect water quality and associated aquatic habitat.” The low impact development process begins with diligent planning. The goal is to match predevelopment hydrology through green infrastructure techniques that incorporate infiltration and evapo-transpiration processes to the highest extent practical. With tree canopy and vegetation loss being the most salient change in the developed landscape, it is infiltration that must be the first and foremost goal of project planning. Within this goal, the ability to maintain the function of these systems in perpetuity is prerequisite. Maintaining long term function of these green infrastructure techniques is made simpler, more environmentally rewarding and economically viable by understanding the science, design and functional limitations of each technique relative to the physical limitations of the site.
This workshop investigates LID/Green infrastructure, the history and the research with example case studies of practical planning, design and implementation for long-term function. Examples of maintenance success, blunders and their causes will be discussed.