As development increases, so does the potential for negative impacts to our local waterways as a result of stormwater runoff. Low Impact Development (LID) helps reduce these impacts.  LID uses different strategies to manage stormwater at its source by mimicking natural processes such as infiltration, evaporation, and nutrient cycling.  However, the implementation of LID along the coast of South Carolina has been limited due to many real and perceived barriers such as maintenance concerns, high or uncertain costs, lack of guidance, and site constraints (for example, poorly drained soils and high groundwater table).

Low Impact Development in Coastal South Carolina: A Planning and Design Guide addresses these concerns and provides stormwater engineering design specifications, land use planning resources, and site design practices that are tailored to the conditions of the South Carolina coast. This information and resources are being made available through training events and outreach.  Also, the manual is accessible in digital format (http://www.northinlet.sc.edu/LID/) and in hard copy (limited supply).

The manual was developed by the ACE Basin and North Inlet-Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserves in partnership with the University of South Carolina, the SC Department of Natural Resources, the Center for Watershed Protection, and the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium.   These project partners engaged with the stormwater community, including private and public organizations, county and municipal officials, professional engineers and landscape architects, and local researchers to create a document that was defined and vetted by end-users.

Funding for this project was made possible through a NERRS Science Collaborative grant.