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Most Common LID Techniques
- Disconnected impervious surfaces: Runoff from rooftops, sidewalks, driveways and roads can be directed to landscaped areas or porous pavement to promote infiltration and reduce the volume of stormwater.
- Preservation of open space/natural features: Development should be directed to appropriate areas where there are no or few environmental constraints. Additional areas of a development site that will not contain buildings or other infrastructure can be protected from clearing, grading and other construction-related effects, reducing the amount of disturbed land and maintaining mature vegetation.
- Rain Gardens or Bioretention Areas: These landscaped depressions that collect runoff and manage it through infiltration, evaporation and biological uptake of nutrients and other pollutants. These practices work well in sandy soils with the use of native plants.
- Flow-through planters and tree boxes: Planters and tree boxes enhance streets and courtyards with attractive vegetation and shade and also provide pervious areas for rainfall interception and stormwater infiltration.
- Porous pavement: A variety of paving surfaces have been developed that contain spaces that store and infiltrate runoff. Pavement types include porous concrete, porous asphalt, and interlocking pavers.
- Water harvesting (rain barrels, cisterns): Rainfall from rooftops can be collected through downspouts and stored for reuse. Rain barrels are typically used to store water for landscaping, and cisterns, which offer more storage volume, can store water for toilet flushing, landscape irrigation or other applications where larger volumes of water are needed.
- Ecoroofs: Also known as green roofs, ecoroofs consist of a layer of soil and plants installed on a roof. They retain stormwater, reduce stormwater volumes and promote evaporation. Ecoroofs have been shown to have energy-saving benefits and help to reduce the heat-island effect in urban areas.
- Low-input landscaping: Choosing native plants that are easy to maintain and adapted to local climate and soil conditions decreases or eliminates the need for watering, fertilizers and pesticides.
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