Texas Coastal Watershed Program (TCWP) - Land Use

Low Impact Development (LID) is a design principle that seeks to decrease the "ecological footprint" of development. LID can cover a wide variety of practices, but here we restrict ourselves to those practices that directly impact runoff water quality. The governing principle behind LID is to provide as many opportunities as possible for water to percolate into the ground, and to provide that opportunity as near to the source as possible. A "thousand drops of water" -- many small containments of water do much more and cost less than large "industrial-sized" detention basins.

Center for Watershed Protection	One of the oldest and best organizations that focus on Low Impact Development. Many publications and a wealth of information is available here.
Low Impact Development Center	A non-profit organization balancing growth and environmental integrity.
Low Impact Development (LID) Urban Design Tools	An LID Center and USEPA project to provide guidance to local governments, planners, and engineers for developing, administering, and incorporating Low Impact Development (LID) into their aquatic resource protection programs.
Swale Stories	Some very nice photos and stories about swales from the North Caroling Division of Water Quality
Environmentally Sensitive Design Practices Database	An elementary listing from the Chesapeake Bay Program. A good introduction to some of the practices
COMPOST	Check out our own resource page on compost!

Site Planning for Urban Stream Restoration	Required reading for the LID practitioner.