By BLANCHE HARDY
Orange County Florida’s Public Works Department is taking the lead in implementing Low Impact Development (LID) principles for stormwater management directly into the infrastructure planning process. LID is an approach to land development and/or re-development that works with nature to manage stormwater as close to its source as possible. It is a measure to achieve sustainability in a region where ground and surface water are a diminishing source for potable, agricultural/commercial, and natural resources supply.
“LID employs principles such as preserving and recreating natural landscape features, minimizing effective imperviousness to create functional and appealing site drainage that treat stormwater as a resource rather than a waste product,” said Julie Bortles, Orange County Public Works Sustainability Lead.
LID is frequently associated with Comprehensive Planning when creating standards for short- and long-range community development and placemaking but is less frequently seen as a “hard” standard for infrastructure planning. This program is taking a needed step forward by adding LID principals into the forefront of roadway corridor and stormwater management planning.
“Urban development results in many changes that can impact stormwater runoff quality and quantity,” Bortles said. “In order to meet the treatment requirements needed to protect downstream lakes and rivers, tools such as LID practices may be used in combination with traditional stormwater best management practices.”
As the county moves forward with capital projects for new or replacement infrastructure, such as roadways, pedestrian walkways and drainage retrofits, the project and/or site will be evaluated to determine if LID practices are needed or can be implemented.
To assist in meeting sustainability goals, Orange County Public Works helped develop and is undertaking technical staff level training for incorporating LID standards into proposed and existing projects. Implementation is outlined in the recently published Orange County Stormwater Low Impact Development Manuals Volume 1 and Volume 2 developed by the county’s Public Works, Environmental Protection, and Planning Departments with the assistance of Geosyntec consultants.
Volume 1 is organized into six (6) sections primarily for use by professionals engaged in planning, designing, constructing, operating, and maintaining development and retrofit projects in Orange County. Volume I – describes many of the technologies available. These were evaluated for ability to be implemented in Orange County, and Volume II – outlines technical requirements for the top four practices.
The manual is intended to provide the background, technical, and operation and maintenance guidance for anyone implementing or needing guidance on LID within the county. Implementation of LID measures will allow for the flexibility to improve the quality of stormwater runoff within communities and both structural and non-structural practices can be employed to meet the needs of a project site within individual watersheds.
Orange County anticipates implementation of the LID program will benefit the county by improving the quality of stormwater runoff and ultimately the quality of water in lakes and rivers within the county. This is particularly important in watersheds that have impaired water bodies where LID practices can help remove nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, that can cause impairments from stormwater runoff.
