Retrofit Storm Water Retention Volume for Low Impact Development

The concept of low impact development (LID) applies decentralized on-site runoff source control to storm water management. LID is an integration of bioretention and vegetated landscapes to maintain a catchment’s hydrologic and ecological functions. In current practice, the LID implementation is quantified for the specified watershed development. During the dynamic development process, the existing LID facilities have to be improved according to the incremental changes in the watershed. This technical note presents an on-site hydrologic approach to relate the required incremental storm water retention volume to the alteration of surface imperviousness in the tributary area. This approach allows the storm water retention volume to be tailored according to the stage of the watershed development. Cumulatively, the total storage volume can be achieved though multiple stages of the watershed development. The incremental retention volume is found to be related to the local average event rainfall depth. Design charts were produced and normalized by the local average rainfall event depth for generalized applicability.