LID & GI Definitions

Green Infrastructure: The term Green Infrastructure (GI) simply refers to a class of stormwater control measures or practices that slow, capture, treat, infiltrate and/or store runoff at its source, and includes both structural (e.g. stormwater capture and treatment) and non-structural (e.g. preservation of open space) approaches.

GI can be applied at the site (e.g. green roofs, porous pavement and cisterns), neighborhood (e.g. green streets and green detention facilities) or regional scale (e.g. urban forestry and open space preservation).

Low Impact Development: LID approaches and principles include: minimizing land disturbance during development, incorporating and preserving natural features in the development, decentralizing stormwater management and treating it at the source through the use of GI and other techniques, reducing and disconnecting impervious surfaces in the development, and understanding and mimicking pre-development hydrology.

The terms LID and GI are often used interchangeably.

LID & GI Resources

Websites

• EPA's Main LID Webpage
• EPA's Main Green Infrastructure Webpage
• Low Impact Development Center, Inc
• LID Urban Design Tools
• Green Infrastructure Wiki
• The Conservation Fund GI Webpage
• Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond
• Using Rainwater to Grow Livable Communities
• Stormwater Management for Federal Facilities under Section 438 of EISA Technical guidance describing new requirements to reduce stormwater runoff from federal development and redevelopment projects.
• EPA Green Infrastructure Training website, includes six archived 2-hour webcasts, videos, pictures of green infrastructure practices, and presentations from past workshops.
• Managing Stormwater in Your Community, A Guide for Building an Effective Post-Construction Program, for Phase II MS4s
• National Research Council Report on Urban Stormwater
• International Stormwater BMP Database
• Website for EPA's Proposed National Rulemaking to strengthen the Stormwater Program

Publications

• Albuquerque Area LID Sites, A document detailing LID sites in the Albuquerque Metro area, prepared by Leslie Consulting, LLC.
• Identifying Barriers to LID and GI in the Albuquerque Area, A research paper by KT LaBadie.
• Reducing Stormwater Costs through LID Strategies and Practices, 2007 EPA Report
• EPA Water Quality Scorecard, a guide for municipal staff
• EPA's GI Municipal Handbook Series, A series of six GI handbooks covering water harvesting policies, incentives and funding mechanisms, and more.
• Stormwater Strategies: Community Responses to Runoff Pollution, LID is discussed in Chapter 12 of this NRDC Publication
• EPA Fact Sheet: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Municipal Stormwater Programs
• EPA Fact Sheet: Funding Stormwater Programs
• EPA Fact Sheet: Incorporating Environmentally Sensitive Development Into Municipal Stormwater Programs
• EPA Fact Sheet: Understanding Impaired Waters and Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Requirements for Municipal Stormwater Programs
• Urban Stormwater Retrofit Practices Manual