Integrated Water Management for Low Impact Development Urban Retrofit and Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Systems in Prince George’s County Maryland

Prince George’s County and their partners (U.S. EPA, City of Laurel, Prince George’s County Public Schools, Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission, Lowe’s Home Improvement Center, and Patuxent River 4-H Center) have been collaborating on a comprehensive storm water management plan using Low Impact Development (LID) for urban retrofit and decentralized wastewater treatment system. The Demonstration Project was funded by a Congressional Earmark Grant of Total Project amount of $1,324,667 the Federal Grant portion is $993,500 (75%) and match portion is $331,167 (25%). LID is a concept that began in Prince George’s County, Maryland in 1990 as an alternative to traditional storm water Best Management Practices (BMP’s) installed at construction projects. The LID project components are an integrated storm water management approach using LID techniques to retrofit a mixed use, high density area and a decentralized wastewater treatment system. LID techniques can be simple, but cost effective instead of depending on expensive, and complicated collection, conveyance, storage and treatment systems. The LID techniques used in this project are bioretention cells, grass swales, rain barrels/cisterns, green roofs, Bayscaping, and permeable pavements. LID techniques can also play an important role in Smart Growth, Green Infrastructure, and Land Use Planning. The implementation of these techniques will reduce water consumption, run-off, and non-point sources. Source: WEFTEC 2009 Proceedings