"More Benign Planning, not more BMPs" is the defining sound-bite from the Plenary Panel at StormCon 2011

Low Impact Development is Passé
The 10th Annual North American Storwater Surface Quality Conference and Exposition (StormCon) opened with a plenary panel discussion on recent trends and changes in the way rainwater/stormwater is managed. Thomas Low, author of the Light Imprint Handbook: Integrating Sustainability and Community Design, reported out on what the panelists said.
 
“The overall buzz of the conference was that the stormwater industry is changing. And as one of the panelists stated, this change needs to move towards MBP, that is, ‘more benign planning’ ….instead of more BMPs or ‘best management practices’,” wrote Thomas Low in capturing a defining sound-bite from the conference. “The panel reminded us that the stormwater profession is a silo, and so we need to reach out to urban planners, transportation planners, etc.” 
 
The panel considered nine questions. The one that resulted in the most insightful observations was this one: What is Passé versus Avant Garde? “LID or low impact development is passé. The new term of choice will be Green Infrastructure,” stated panelist Paul Crabtree.

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