Low Impact Development
Low Impact Development (LID) is an innovative stormwater management approach with a basic principle that is modeled after nature. LID's goal is to mimic a site's predevelopment hydrology by using design techniques that infiltrate, filter, store, evaporate, and detain runoff close to its source. Examples of LID include vegetated buffers, swales, and permeable pavers.
Techniques are based on the premise that stormwater management should not be seen as stormwater disposal. Instead of conveying and managing / treating stormwater in large, costly end-of-pipe facilities located at the bottom of drainage areas, LID addresses stormwater through small, cost-effective landscape features located at the lot level.
LID allows for greater development potential with less environmental impacts through the use of smarter designs and advanced technologies that achieve a better balance between conservation, growth, ecosystem protection, and public health / quality of life.
LID has numerous benefits and advantages over conventional stormwater management approaches. In short, it is a more environmentally sound technology and a more economically sustainable approach to addressing the adverse impacts of urbanization. By managing runoff close to its source though intelligent site design, LID can enhance the local environment, protect public health, and improve community livability - all while saving developers and local governments money.
In spring 2005, OCRM held a workshop focused on the benefits of LIDs. Presentations from the workshop presenters are available online.
Vegetated Riparian Buffers
Vegetated buffers are needed between water bodies and upland development to alleviate some of the negative effects of urban and suburban growth on the environment and economy. Buffers minimize nonpoint source pollution, prevent erosion, reduce flooding and flood damage, and preserve wildlife habitat, natural views, and recreational opportunities.
OCRM Planning Division staff reviewed and compiled current literature on vegetated buffers and produced two, easy-to-read, informative booklets: one for both local government officials and citizens of South Carolina, entitled Vegetated Riparian Buffers and Buffer Ordinances, and a second for homeowners, entitled Backyard Buffers for the South Carolina Lowcountry. The first booklet contains facts about vegetated buffers, including the advantages of buffers and the conditions that affect buffer performance and a list of some cities and counties in the United States with buffer ordinances. It also covers common problems with buffer ordinances that have been encountered by communities in the United States and the solutions to those problems. OCRM's recommendations to communities in South Carolina considering a buffer ordinance are listed at the front of the document.
Backyard Buffers for the South Carolina Lowcountry is for homeowners who wish to convert part of their waterfront backyards into vegetated buffers. It also contains information on the advantages of buffers and a native plant list for homeowners to use in choosing plants for their buffers. A Model Riparian Buffer Ordinance document is also now available on this webpage and at the OCRM offices.
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