Factsheet on Low Impact Development: a Sensible Approach to Land Development and Stormwater Management

The Ecotoxicology Program at the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), in collaboration with the California Water and Land Use Partnership (CA WALUP), is in the process of developing a series of fact sheets addressing the relationship between land use, water resources, and the aquatic ecosystem to be used as educational tools for local land-use decision makers municipal staff and the general public.

This fact sheet on low impact development (LID) provides a solution to minimize or eliminate the impacts on the water cycle caused by paving over large areas of land; a topic reviewed in a previous fact sheet, “The Effect of Urbanization on the Water Cycle.” Recognizing a lack of general familiarity with LID, this new fact sheet reviews the basic principles of LID, its benefits and implementation challenges, its use in new and re-development, and provides examples of its application in urban and suburban environments. The information should be useful to local decision-makers and their staff, as well as homeowners, to provide development options and landscaping alternatives that protect water quality and natural resources.

The fact sheet was developed by UCD intern Dianna Gillespie and UCSB intern Emily Ruby at OEHHA. Comments and questions are welcome.