Design Guidance on Low Impact Development Practices for Stormwater Management and Control in Oklahoma

Abstract

Since the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System regulations were first implemented in Oklahoma in 1990 stormwater management has evolved in many ways. One of these evolutions has came by the way of the EPA encouraging communities to utilize Low Impact Development (LID) to deal with both stormwater quantity and achieve water quality benefits. In the last 5 years the installation of LID practices in the United States have grown tremendously. The purpose of this Thesis is to research the existing technology and implementation surrounding LID and document the findings to educate a variety of groups such as engineers, homebuilders, developers, homeowners, and scientists. Objectives of the research include indentifying LID practices appropriate for Oklahoma, developing comprehensive fact sheets on each practice for use in a future LID Manual, and identifying examples of LID practices currently in place in Oklahoma. Each chapter includes information on benefits, design, installation, cost, maintenance, and limitations of the following practices: rain gardens and bioretention cells, rainwater harvesting, pervious pavement, natural and engineered wetlands, and green roofs. Other chapters included are a comparison of traditional development to LID and pollutant source reduction. This series of fact sheets will provide a resource for the citizens of Oklahoma to utilize to determine if LID practices could be valuable to implement.