What is Low Impact Development (LID)?
Low Impact Development is a design strategy that attempts to maintain the natural hydrology of a site after development, this means that rain is allowed to soak into the ground close to where it falls. This differs from traditional Stormwater management in which runoff is directed to catch basins and underground pipes that empty directly into our creeks. With traditional gray infrastructure large volumes of Stormwater runoff are dumped into our creeks often resulting in erosion of stream banks and scouring of stream beds. LID helps to decrease the volume of water flowing to creeks by allowing it to infiltrate into the ground at the same rate that happened prior to development. LID strategies often rely on Green Infrastructure for Stormwater infiltration.