Low Impact Development (LID) in not exactly new. It is a concept that has been around for a while. There is a website that contains some great graphics that show what this is all about at Implementing Low Impact Development in Virginia: A Presentation to the City of Virginia Beach Watershed – Friendly Landscape Workshop at the TCC – ATC on Low Impact Development (LID): March 4 & 5, 2009, By Charlies H. Heffington, Jr., NSPE. Nobody can look at these photographs and fail to see how this type of development would increase property values. Hidden within the overall design is the fact that these same designs have the added benefit of helping the environment. That means a positive affect on the air we breathe, the water we drink, our food supply, and our recreational needs. The simple process of mimicing what nature has done for centuries can serve to improve quality of life for people with such developments and for anyone downstream from where that stormwater would normally flow.
Williamsburg Environmental Group, Inc provides basic information on LID’s in it’s October 2003 Tecnical Update. The discussion on “What is LID?” covers what and LID is supposed to accomplish as an alternative to conventional methods of stormwater management. They go further in their discussion to note that while it may not be practical in all situations, even partial application of LID can have positive overall results. Although the specific State Code referred to at the end of the article causing the creation of a Low Impact Development Assessment Task Force has expired, language is now included in Virginia State Code Section 10.1-603.4 (Development regulation.) Subsection 8: “Encourage low impact development designs, regional and watershed approaches, and nonstructural means for controlling stormwater;” (This section of the State Code also gives some other useful information, so if you take the time to look up the section I’ve quoted here, please take a few extra minutes to read the rest.)
The Norfolk District Regulatory Office of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has a site that provides information that may be important for those jurisdiction that may want to look grant money as possible sources for revitalization of neighborhoods. (See some of what has already happened concerning some of these Water Quality Improvements by way of Virginia grants on this press release from Governor Tim Kaine.What elected officials may find helpful is the “Report on December 2003 Low Impact Development Workshops…” as it identifies some of the issues that would need to be addressed in order to implement LID’s locally such as ordinances and enforcement issues.
Brining the issues involved in effective stormwater management is the “2007 Virginia/West Virginia Water Research Symposium: The Inn at Virginia Tech and Skelton Conference Center, Blacksburg, VA; November 26-30, 2007“. This document simply contains an overview of some of the presentations but there are links to authors and department listings that could prove useful in tracking down more information. On page 2, There is an overview (actually, all of these are abstracts of papers presented at the conference that I have not found yet) on “The Adoption of Low Impact Development in Virginia Local Governments”, by Moonsun Jeong of the Environmenta Design and Planning Department at Virginia Tech. All of hte information here constitute good places to begin the process of understanding the importance of effective stormwater practices and how this issues is not simply about one person’s yard. It is a process with far reaching implications from headwaters to the Ocean and returning in the form of rain.
The Valley Concervation Council has a website with a lot of great links to Low Impact Development information sources. One such document is the final report from the Low Impact Development Assessment Task Force noted above. Another one is from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development: The Parctice of Low Impact Development. (Note, this is a bit slow to download but is well organized and very informative.)
Why heck, there is even a Low Impact Development Center, Inc. These folks cover the issues, the newest products, and provide a great resource for any developers brave enough to use this approach. (Unfortunately, there have been some attempts in other jurisdictions that have been shut down because of their elected officials!) Lack of information provided to public officials is just as dangerous as having information given to those officials who ignore it!! Some of the featured topics I found include Green Highways & Green Infrastructure and Rain Garden Templates. The even have a link to resources for people who are trying to plan LID’s complete with examples and designs in AutoCAD and JPEG formats as well as information as to construction, cost, maintenance, specifications, and watershed benefits.
Chesterfield County, Virginia, Fairfax County, Virginia and Stafford, Virginia are both taking Low Impact Development seriously. The DCR (Department of Conservation and Recreation) Erosion and Sediment Control 2009 LID Product Order Form allows individuals, companies, and even elected officials the opportunity to order products in DVD and/or CD format that provides and introduction to Low-Impact Development, brochures, manuals, worksheets and sample codes. Strategies for implementation can be found at the RiverFriends.org site’s report: Low Impact Development Strategies for Rural Communities,by John Tippett, Executive Director, Friends of the Rappahannick, Inc. Fredericksburg, Virginia and Neil Weinstein, Executive Director, Low Impact Development Center, Beltsville, Maryland . This contains a good discussion on how the Town Manager of Warsaw, Virginia found that conventional methods of stormwater management would not be as cost effective as using the TID approach.
It is clear there is no lack of information on how effective and efficient Low Impact Development is in the area of stormwater management. If you take the time to read some of the articles noted here, you will see there are a lot of opportunities for local government, civic groups, home owner groups, and individuals. An investment made today, can have a long lasting impact on reducing the cost to taxpayers for conventional storm water management and mitigation of streams/streambanks, providing grant money for rennovating older communities, increasing property values (and, of course, taxes), helping to protect our food supplies (as both land and aquatic organism require clean water, preventing pollutants from entering our drinking water, and perhaps, restoring some of our waterways into features that can be fully utilized by future generations. We have the opportunity to prevent further damage to our waterways and even undo some of the destruction that has already occurred. With all of this information available, it looks like the only thing missing is the will to do it.
