Environmental Site Design

Stormwater pollution prevention starts before the shovel even hits the ground – with good design and planning.  Environmental site design – a term which encompasses aspects of better site design, low impact development and green infrastructure – uses nature’s own processes to prevent runoff.  This is achieved by protecting green space and making less impervious surfaces – smaller developments and less asphalt means less runoff is generated, and utilizing natural processes to soak rainwater and snowmelt into the ground – infiltrating runoff mimics the natural water cycle.  Environmental site design practices also use vegetation to trap and evaporate water, or reuse it for irrigation or other purposes.

Environmental Site Design Resources

Boston Metropolitan Area Planning Council: Low Impact Development: Do your local codes allow it?

Center for Watershed Protection

Chicago Department of Transportation: Green Alley Program

ECONorthwest’s The Economics of Low Impact Development: A Literature Review

International Stormwater Best Management Practice Database

Low Impact Development Center

Natural Resources Defense Council:

Rooftops to Rivers: Green strategies for controlling stormwater and combined sewer overflows

Stormwater Strategies: Community responses to runoff pollution

News Hour with Jim Lehr, 10.08.08: Stormwater Runoff Pollutes Drinking Water

Portland Bureau of Environmental Services: Grey to Green

Seattle Public Utilities: Street Edge Alternative (SEA Streets) Project

The Sustainable Sites Initiative

United States Environmental Protection Agency:

Incorporating Environmentally Sensitive Development into Municipal Stormwater Programs

Managing Wet Weather with Green Infrastructure

Reducing Stormwater Costs through Low Impact Development (LID) Strategies and Practices

Smart Growth publications (disponible en Espanol)

University of New Hampshire Stormwater Center

Villanova Urban Stormwater Partnership