Low Impact Development: Managing the Rain

When rain falls onto Oregon's streets, sidewalks, parking lots and rooftops, it picks up pollutants in its path, gathering volume and speed until a storm drain pipes it underground or into a stream. This stormwater runoff causes water pollution, flooding, stream bank erosion, depleted groundwater, and habitat loss for fish and wildlife. Using plants and soil to capture and filter stormwater runoff and allows the cleaned water to recharge our groundwater supplies, the way it does in nature. Managing stormwater this way is called low-impact development (LID). These development practices that reduce stormwater runoff by preserving existing natural ...