Studies, and our own experience, have shown that our waters are getting more polluted and do not provide the healthy environment that they use to which allowed salmon and all manor of other fish and wildlife and birds to thrive here in Kitsap and the Puget Sound area in general.
One of the main causes of the degrading quality of our waters has been linked to stormwater’s effects. Stormwater isn’t just rainwater after it hits the ground. In our built-up areas, it hits pavement that we have been driving cars on which contributes oil, metals like cadmium, lead, zinc, and plastics. It hits fertilized lawns and flower beds, metal roofs and moves through agricultural lands carrying soils and animal wastes from our pets and other live stock. Finally it hits most of these surfaces and runs off; it does not seep into the ground.
In fact, running off our hardened surfaces is exactly what our stormwater management codes and engineering manuals have been encouraging for years! The conventional idea has always been: collect it, and get it off the land as fast as possible – preferably to a pipe that takes it somewhere else! However, we now know that this approach may be expedient in the short term but has had significant consequences in the long term, polluting our surface waters, removing water that could be recharging our aquifers, and draining wetlands and other recharge areas for our surface streams.
Low Impact Development (LID) is a different way of looking at stormwater management. We will always have to manage stormwater so we need to do it in a new way. LID is an innovative stormwater management approach with a basic principle that is modeled after nature. LID’s goal is to mimic any site’s predevelopment hydrology by using design techniques that infiltrate, filter, store, evaporate, and detain runoff close to its source.
The LID Institute describes it this way, “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.”
Almost all components of the developed environment have the potential to serve as a part of a stormwater management area. “This includes not only open space, but also rooftops, streetscapes, parking lots, sidewalks, and medians. LID is a versatile approach that can be applied equally well to new development, urban retrofits, and redevelopment/revitalization projects.”
Does it cost more then the conventional approach? Sometimes yes, sometimes no, but considering the costs over the long term still saves money over conventional approaches through reduced infrastructure and site preparation work. According to the LID Institute, “Case studies and pilot programs show at least a 25 to 30 percent reduction in costs associated with site development, stormwater fees, and maintenance for residential developments that use LID techniques. This savings is achieved by reductions in clearing, grading, pipes, ponds, inlets, curbs and paving.”
Far outweighing any of the cost increases due to the use of LID, these infrastructure reduction savings enable builders to add value-enhancing features to the property and allow the water to go where it is of the most use, back into the ground, to the surface water table and to any local waterbodies that need it. It also gives the soils some opportunity to strip away the pollutants it has accumulated in its travel along the ground.
If we begin to implement LID now, it may help maintain and improve our water and enjoyment of this beautiful area we call Kingston.
Join the Kingston Citizens’ Advisory Council at its regular monthly meeting at 7 p.m. March 7 in the Kingston Community Center to hear about Low Impact Development.
