Genuine Low Impact Development

In December 2009, a team of architects, plannners, and scientists put together a plan for a development on a 640-acre tract on the Katy Prairie west of Houston.  The plan was a submission to a Low Impact Development contest hosted by the Houston Sustainable Land and Water Forum.  All of the submissions, including the winning entries, used all of the 640 acres.All of these entries reduced stormwater runoff through a variety of low impact development practices.

The Katy Prairie is a unique resource with irreplaceable prime farmland and prime habitat.Paving it over entirely and adding a few water quality practices, laudable though they are, does not make up for the loss of this most precious of resources.The Genuine LID Team has demonstrated that we can build on the prairie in such a way that conserves most of the land, and provides better habitat for both humans and nature. Click on the plan on the right to see the full design. This design had the same lot yield as the plans that used the entire competition area.

Geniune LID Plan for the Katy Prairie

(PDF-~3M)