The policy makers have jumped on the low-impact development (LID) bandwagon and have given the marching orders to staff: LID for everyone! Come back with an implementation plan.
Conventional stormwater systems – structures such as curbs and gutters, detention ponds and storm sewers – are inadequate to handle the stormwater that will result from future development. In some places, those systems are inadequate for current needs.
Don Moore (1959-2008) was a commonsense practitioner; he was not captive to terminology. Part of his legacy is being the catalyst for looking at drainage differently in 2004. In March 2005, he was the driving force in organizing the Let it Rain Conference, hosted by the Institute of Urban Ecology at Douglas College in New Westminster.
This will be one of the largest municipal green infrastructure project undertaken anywhere in the United States.
Green infrastructure can be used almost anywhere soil and vegetation can be worked into the urban or suburban landscape.
Kim Stephens – 2007 (120p)
The 'Topsoil Primer Set' synthesizes the experience of City of Surrey, the City of Courtenay and the District of North Vancouver in pioneering implementation of absorbent landscape policies and requirements.
The authors provide examples illustrating how reduced hydrologic connectivity can provide greater ecological benefits than enhanced connectivity does in highly developed, human-modified ecosystems.
Patrick Condon (120p)
If we change the way cities are built and retrofitted, we can create the conditions for a livable life for our children and grandchildren.
Ray Fung (120p)
An absorbent topsoil layer has emerged as a fundamental building block for achieving water sustainability outcomes through green infrastructure. Targeted water sustainability outcomes are: less irrigation water use; and reduced rainwater runoff.
The Inland Kenworth industrial development in the City of Nanaimo illustrates what can be accomplished through collaboration when a municipality challenges a development proponent to be innovative. “As a planner, I believe we should start by looking at site constraints and opportunities. And that is where our conversations started with the developer and consultants team,” stated Gary Noble. The Inland Kenworth story was incorporated in the curriculum for the 2008 Vancouver Island Learning Lunch Seminar Series.
