Low impact development practices: A review of current research and recommendations for future directions

Abstract

A low impact development (LID) is an alternative land development approach for managing stormwater that has been recommended instead of the traditional stormwater design. The main purpose of LID is to reduce the impact of development on water related problems through the use of stormwater management practices that infiltrate, evaporate, or harvest and use stormwater on the site where it falls. In recent years, more research has been carried out on the individual practice of LID such as bioretention, pervious pavements, rain garden and grassed swales. Nowadays LID practices have been successfully used to manage stormwater runoff, improve water quality, protect the environmental and hydrological aspects of the developed areas. Bioretention cells have been effectively used in retaining large volumes of runoff and pollutants on site. Pervious pavements have been extremely effective practice in infiltrating stormwater runoff as early as possible as rain fall on site and store a large quantity of water. Nowadays, sand ditch a new water harvesting technique is used that significantly reduces runoff and sediment losses and increases infiltration and soil loss. This paper highlights evidence in the literature regarding the beneficial uses of LID practices and encourage to adopt these practices for environmental friendly construction and sustainable development in the world.