Barriers to low impact development in the Keep it Clean Partnership communities
By Janice Lopitz, Keep it Clean Partnership coordinator
The Keep it Clean Partnership (KICP) is a partnership of municipalities that includes Boulder, Erie, Longmont, Louisville and Superior, along with Boulder County. All are situated in the Boulder and St. Vrain watersheds, and are permittees under the Phase II Stormwater National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Program.
The partners each hold a five-year permit for stormwater discharge with the Water Quality Control Division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
KICP partners each rely on ordinances, or other regulatory mechanisms, to address post-construction runoff from new development and redevelopment projects on sites greater than one acre. These requirements include installation of permanent stormwater quality facilities to ensure long-term water quality protection from runoff. Each partner’s ordinances require that these permanent facilities meet the design criteria in the Urban Storm Drainage Criteria Manual, Volumes 1-3 http://www.udfcd.org/downloads/down_critmanual.htm.
It’s important to implement a broader spectrum of water quality protection best management practices (BMPs) in order to meet the Colorado municipal stormwater discharge permit condition:
Develop and implement strategies which include the use of structural and/or non-structural BMPs appropriate for the community that address the discharge of pollutants from new development and redevelopment projects, and/or that maintain or restore hydrologic conditions at sites to minimize the discharge of pollutants and prevent in-channel impacts associated with increased imperviousness.
Understanding the barriers that exist in the development review process is essential to incorporate BMPs that address water quality and runoff modification resulting from developed sites. These BMPs are referred to as low impact development (LID) practices.
The LID barrier project
In early 2008, KICP asked Wright Water Engineers Inc. to evaluate three sets of development plans. The purpose: to determine if all control measures, or BMPs, that prevent, or limit, adverse effects on water quality were properly integrated – and if not, to identify the barriers.
As part of the process, the firm:
- developed a questionnaire to determine the perceived barriers and rank their importance.
- developed a checklist to use during development review by developers, engineers and municipal staff. It identified potential opportunities for LID strategies in proposed development and redevelopment projects.
- reviewed three plan sets, using the checklist, to identify opportunities for water quality protection.
- met with municipal staff to discuss review findings.
- authored a final white paper.
The checklist covers topics related to administrative considerations; site resources and characteristics; proposed site layout including streets and driveways, parking and landscaping; LID opportunities; structural BMPs; and construction and maintenance. The checklist was designed for yes/no responses and provides an area for comments.
The report summarizes the review results of the development plans of three KICP partners and includes a table summarizing Conceptual Strategies for Addressing LID Barriers. The questionnaire, checklist, plan reviews, and white paper were finalized in 2009 and can be downloaded by clicking on "LID Barrier Analysis White Paper" on the construction page of the KeepitCleanPartnership.org Web site.
Next steps
Identifying these barriers is an important first step in encouraging wider use of LID practices in this region. KICP partners will use the list of strategies to address barriers, and identify next steps to support a full spectrum of BMPs and LID practices.
KICP welcomes the efforts of Colorado organizations such as Addressing Water and Natural Resources Education (AWARE) Colorado and Urban Drainage and Flood Control District. Efforts by these two groups have great potential to overcome many of the barriers identified in this study.