Low Impact Development (LID) and Green Infrastructure (GI) systems are stormwater control measures (SCM) designed to mitigate the adverse impacts of urbanization by mimicking the pre-development hydrology, restoring the natural flow regime and enhancing the water quality. The performance of these systems is highly variable and dependent of the design parameters and local conditions. 

A full-scale LID testbed was implemented at the university of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) to conduct a comparative evaluation of three different LID designs under same conditions. The LID testbed is composed of six parallel cells including a sand filter basin and two rain gardens with two different biofiltration media: (1) the regional standard biofiltration media and (2) an innovative custom blend with use of limestone sand in the mixture. The LID designs are tested in duplicates - with and without impermeable liner - to investigate the potential impacts of the direct infiltration on water quality and aquifer recharge. To simulate the hydraulic and treatment performance of the LID testbed, a Storm water Management Model (SWMM) was developed, calibrated and validated using the field monitoring data. The model was used to assess effectiveness and sensitivity of each LID control under changing climate. Specifically, this study evaluated the ability of each LID control to mitigate the alterations brought by climate change in terms of their hydrologic performance and treatment of pollutants, such as total suspended solids (TSS). Design recommendations were elaborated accordingly to better mitigate the impacts of urbanization and future climatic changes.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784483466.030

Study the Performance of Various Stormwater Control Measures in a Single Full-Scale Low Impact Development (LID) Testbed under Changing Environments Using SWMM

Created in 1999, the Environmental & Water Resources Institute (EWRI) is the recognized leader within ASCE for the integration of technical expertise and public policy in the planning, design, construction, and operation of environmentally sound and sustainable infrastructure impacting air, land and water resources.

Paper Proceedings: https://ascelibrary.org/doi/book/10.1061/9780784483466