LOW IMPACT DEVELOPMENT (LID)

Low Impact Development (LID) is an innovative approach to land development and stormwater management that seeks to mimic the natural hydrology of a site, while promoting sustainable and environmentally responsible practices. By utilizing small-scale, decentralized strategies, LID helps reduce the negative environmental impacts of urbanization, particularly concerning stormwater runoff. In regions like the Chihuahua Desert, where water conservation and management are critical, LID strategies are an effective way to minimize water use, improve water quality, and maintain the local ecosystem's balance.

LID aims to integrate green infrastructure, reduce impervious surfaces, and enhance the infiltration and evaporation of rainwater. Rather than relying on large-scale, expensive infrastructure systems like traditional storm drains and retention ponds, LID employs techniques that address stormwater at its source. This is especially important in desert areas like the Chihuahua Desert, where every drop of water counts.

Stormwater: Risk to Resource
Urbanization creates more impervious surfaces, which increases stormwater runoff. In the semi‐arid climate of El Paso County, rainwater and stormwater are valuable resources that have many beneficial uses, but they have historically been disposed of as a nuisance and a hazard. The concept of LID encompasses an approach to stormwater management that preserves or mimics the natural drainage of stormwater runoff to mitigate the effects of increased impervious surfaces. The use of LID concepts during site layout results in the preservation of natural drainage patterns and a reduction in impervious area when compared to traditional development. These, in turn, reduce the amount of runoff exiting the development, and improve runoff quality by providing greater areas for infiltration, evapotranspiration, and sediment deposition. When applied appropriately, the LID site layout concepts minimize the number of structural green infrastructure (GI) practices required to restore discharge rates and volumes and maximize the effectiveness of these structural GI practices in mitigating the effects of development on stormwater runoff. LID is most effective for stormwater management when it is incorporated in the site layout during the initial planning phase of new development. Cost benefits are also maximized during this early stage of site design. However, LID is also applicable to redevelopment and retrofitting by implementing a comprehensive and effective set of GI/LID practices.

LID Site Planning Practices

LID Toolbox
 

Benefits of LID
 

Who Benefits and How?

Resources