How Floodplain and Stormwater Managers Can Use EPA's New LID Handbook

Low Impact Development and Green Infrastructure (LID/GI) practices can help manage water quantity by reducing excess volumes of runoff, in addition to improving water quality. EPA is preparing a handbook that will be useful to floodplain managers in understanding how LID/GI fits into flood risk management planning by mitigating localized and watershed-wide frequent, small storm flooding. The handbook demonstrates the benefits of LID/GI in providing an integrated approach to environmentally-sound watershed and fiscally-responsible floodplain management program.The handbook will be a chapter in EPA's on-going series of short, step-by-step guides to assist local governments in building green infrastructure in their communities. EPA's Municipal GI Handbook is located at http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/greeninfrastructure/gi_policy.cfmThe handbook includes examples from across the country of the natural flood storage benefits of LID/GI as well as a wide variety of approaches to incorporate LID/GI to improve stormwater and floodplain management. In addition, non-structural flood risk management approaches include zoning, stormwater ordinances, and building codes, and other associated steps that can improve water quality while reducing frequent, small storm flooding risk are addressed. The forthcoming handbook, expected to be available in 2013, provides information on improved floodplain natural function to assist floodplain and stormwater managers.