Changes

This guide has been developed as a tool to help developers, consultants, municipalities and landowners understand and implement more sustainable stormwater management planning and design practices in their watersheds. Many jurisdictions have defined the term low impact development. For this document, the following definition, adapted from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA, 2007) will be used:

This guide has been developed as a tool to help developers, consultants, municipalities and landowners understand and implement more sustainable stormwater management planning and design practices in their watersheds. Many jurisdictions have defined the term low impact development. For this document, the following definition, adapted from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA, 2007) will be used:

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Low impact development (LID) is a stormwater management strategy that seeks to mitigate the impacts of increased runoff and stormwater pollution by managing runoff as close to its source as possible. LID comprises a set of site design strategies that minimize runoff and distributed, small scale structural practices that mimic natural or predevelopment hydrology through the processes of infiltration, evapotranspiration, harvesting, filtration and detention of stormwater. These practices can effectively remove nutrients, pathogens and metals from runoff, and they reduce the volume and intensity of stormwater flows.}}

systems and practices that use or mimic natural processes that result in the infiltration, evapotranspiration or use of stormwater in order to protect water quality and associated aquatic habitat.}}

The field of stormwater management has undergone considerable evolution in the last 40-50 years, from underground drainage systems for rapid water disposal, to stormwater management ponds, to today’s myriad of near-to-nature practices and technologies<ref name ="Fletcher" />. This paradigm shift could be explained by a change of perception about water from a waste to a resource. With this evolution comes the evolution of terminology to describe the latest visions, practices and technologies.

The field of stormwater management has undergone considerable evolution in the last 40-50 years, from underground drainage systems for rapid water disposal, to stormwater management ponds, to today’s myriad of near-to-nature practices and technologies<ref name ="Fletcher" />. This paradigm shift could be explained by a change of perception about water from a waste to a resource. With this evolution comes the evolution of terminology to describe the latest visions, practices and technologies.