STORMWATER
                                                                       Storm water In New England
                                                    FACING  PROBLEMS
                         ^V]latyou can do as
                                         aDevelooer
                         U.S.  EPA  | STORMWATER  OUTREACH  AT EPA  NEW  ENGLAND
                                               _»,.^
                                                           STORMWATER  is a leading cause of poor water quality. Rain or
                                                            me/ted snow runs down driveways,  sidewalks and streets carrying oil, din
                                                            and other potfutonts into nearby waterways. Polluted runoff, which con
                                                            cause erosion and flooding, runs into waterways and degrades plants, fish,
                                                            sheltfah and other wildlife.  In water used for recreation, the runoff can
                                                            lead to illness, and people who eat contaminated fish can oiso become sick.
                                                            Untreated jcormvwusr con also contaminate drinking water sources.
INTRO:
Deveopment has sprawled across New Eng aod ow tie past lew decides, consuming firms and forests two times
as fast as the population ij growing. Past devetoDnmem practices have created more roads, crivewayi and roofs so
that water thai used a> seep into the ground now runs across pavement, pckng ip chemicals and po kiiants. This
stDrmwater fven lows nto tearby waterways, berth pdlirtng them and scouring their banks. LocaJ zoning often
unintentionally encourages sprac*, but th.s is beginning to change. Some developers are leading *e way with better -
and often cheaper - ways to develop. Here are some of their practices:
USE  INNOVATIVE
DEVELOPMENT  PRACTICES:
Select your site wisely — Developing in an already-
developed area  can lower infrastructure costs because
sewer,  water,  utilities  and  roads  may be available.

Choose the areas of your site to develop carefully—You
can avoid putting the development where it will have an
effect on important natural resources. In addition, you
can duster buildings and leave at least half of the property
undeveloped so that It can handle rainwater through natu-
ral resources. This will reduce costs and add to open space.

Use Low Impact Development (LID) practices — Roads,
parking lots and other  non-porous areas are the larg-
est comributors to storrnwster runoff Generally the
less porous the area, the worse the condition of nearby
waterways. Low Impact  Development allows  devel-
oped land to handle rain more like how it was handled
before the site was developed. The goal is to nimic a
site's predevebpment hydrology by  infiltrating, filtering,
storing, evaporating and detaining stornwete' runoff.
         barrier*  aarty  -  Developers  interest-
ed  in  LID  a»e  often concerned  about  cost,  cold
weather, drin
-------