Low Impact Development (LID)

Low-impact development (LID) encourages on-site water conservation to capture and treat stormwater and reduce water use. “LID is a planning or design approach to development intended to reduce runoff by enhancing infiltration, thereby retaining or restoring natural hydrological characteristics” ​(USGS, Zarriello 2010).

Most backyards and open spaces are suitable for LID designs to conserve water, capturing rainfall, reducing outdoor water demand, and making a low-impact development both functional and appealing. ​Outdoor water use accounts for up to 50% of water consumed by an average household, but property owners can easily reduce or eliminate external water use and save money:
  • Water your lawn at dawn or dusk, when more water soaks in than if you water in the hottest parts of the day.
  • Plant native flowers and shrubs in your garden and seed your lawn with drought tolerant turf grass.
  • Retain moisture in your lawn and garden by using compost in new soil and mulching around your plants.
  • Install rain water barrels under the roof gutter drains and use this rain water to water your plants.
  • Reduce lawn size- less lawn means less watering and less mowing. Install other garden beds or trees in its place.
  • Adjust your mower to a high setting and leave grass clippings and chopped-up leaves on the lawn to increase soil organic material.
  • Transform part of your lawn into a meadow, which will also serve as beneficial wildlife habitat.
  • Use porous hardscapes on paths and patios to allow rain water to pass into the soil.
  • Water lawn less to increase plants’ tolerance to drought.
  • Make a rain garden (click here)  to hold large amount of rainfall runoff or stormwater and improve the water quality. Rain gardens create beautiful landscapes that have greater purpose, from pollutant filtration to wildlife habitat for wildlife. ​

Click here For more on stormwater management.

Several UMass Amherst Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning studios and student projects have advanced green infrastructure and greenways. Click on the images for more details.
​This project analyzed and classified viewsheds in the Boston Harbor Islands National Park Area, taking into consideration the cultural, historical, and natural features that influence public perceptions of  visual quality.  The study applied a modified version of the Bureau of Land Management’s Visual Resource Management (VRM) tool to assess the unique island landscapes.   Data and pictures were gathered from seven different trips around the National Park Area. Visual assessment was done through a quantitative analytical process in which each viewshed was given  a numerical rating based on the VRM method and calibrated with an expert panel of stakeholders.  The study resulted in recommendations to help the National Park Service increase visitor’s access to underused areas, increase ferry routes around the scenic areas, and to incorporate landscape management plans to maintain the scenic viewsheds. 
​This graduate studio focused on transforming the elevated McGrath Highway, which crosses through Somerville, MA into a green infrastructure corridor that provides multiple benefits for local residents. Currently, the highway cuts East Somerville from the rest of the city, creates congested intersections and is a source of  concentrated air pollution through some of the most densely populated neighborhoods in the state.  Student teams analyzed the area and mapped out important challenges such as brownfields, environmental justice neighborhoods, and water pollution, as well as potential connections to other city-wide green corridors. After completing the analysis, a number of preliminary designs were presented to the City of Somerville. Three different design alternatives were proposed based on the amount of green infrastructure being implemented –  the gray, green, and super green scenarios.  The Gray scenario focuses on short term feasible solutions, such as reducing the number of drive lanes for cars and replacing them with trees. The green scenario focuses more on the long term goals, not only for social and environmental issues, but also to promote economic development. This scenario proposed lowering the elevated portion of the McGrath Highway and creating a boulevard. The super green scenario is the more extreme design, proposing transforming the elevated portion of the highway into a green pedestrian corridor. The three scenarios create opportunities for phased implementation along the McGrath Corridor that will provide safer pedestrian and bike connections, while providing valuable needed green space and tree cover for the residents of Sommerville.
The Ipswich River is a small coastal plain river in Northeastern Massachusetts that flows 45 miles from the source to the sea. The 155 square mile Ipswich River watershed houses 150,000 residents. This river supports a diverse amount of aquatic anadromous species (e.g., Shad, Salmon) who move from the oceans to fresh water to breed. 

Since the region has experienced less development and industrialization compared to its neighbors, the Ipswich River has relatively low pollution levels and is an important source of drinking water for  over 300,000 people in twenty-one communities. This watershed is part of the Great Marsh ecosystem that helps support breeding migratory fish, like shad and salmon, and is home to variety of public open spaces and ecological reserves.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, the river ran dry several times, which such a large disturbance to the ecosystem the Department of Environmental Protection implemented outdoor water use restrictions during the summer months. These restrictions have improved the flows in the river, but with recent weather patterns, there has been more uncertainty towards the health of the river. Other water conservation methods like limiting the amount of groundwater that can be withdrawn by wells and adopting low impact development strategies can further preserve the Ipswich Rivers flow.

The Ipswich River is one of the most threatened rivers in the United States due to increased development and drinking water withdrawals from neighboring towns that impact the water quality and quantity. In order to address these environmental issues, a UMass studio developed a green infrastructure plan for the watershed that proposes protecting open space within water resource areas, preserving wildlife habitat areas, and creating recreational linkages. Each student in the course developed a focus area at the local scale to illustrate implementing green infrastructure planning. These projects include retrofitting existing neighborhoods with rain gardens and other green infrastructure devices to gather and treat urban stormwater, as well as increase ecological connectivity. Other projects include creating ecological corridors and retrofits for an industrial park, high school, and commercial area. This project shows creative solutions to address the environmental and recreational needs of this urbanizing watershed
This senior undergraduate landscape architecture capstone studio focused on designing greenways for the historic industrial city of  Lawrence, MA that interprets the rich culture of the City, transforms brownfields into parks, and provides access to the Merrimac River and historic canals. The project involved a partnership with Groundworks Lawrence, a local non-profit organization, which is engaged in urban design initiatives throughout the city.  The five studio teams focused on creating alternative plans that differed geographically and by topic. The first team focused on the Legacy Greenway, a project that aims to create connections between important assets in Lawrence like; parks, open space, schools, etc. The second team looked at Lawrence at a regional level, proposing alternative regional bus routes as well as connections to regional trails, like the Bay Circuit Trail. The third team focused on the river, creating greenway loops that connect to the three rivers. The fourth team focused most of their design on two major proposed corridors that follow a proposed rail-trail and the Merrimac River. The final team focused on the Spicket River corridor, connecting people back to the river by engaging them in history.  These five alternatives were compiled into one greenway plan with focused area designs, as well as individual team reports.
This graduate studio focused on the creating green infrastructure networks in Worcester, Massachusetts which is the second most populated city in Massachusetts. The studio worked in conjunction with the EcoTarium, an innovative science museum in Worcester in order to link the City’s rich cultural, historic, and academic resources across a densely populated urban region; and expand opportunities for local residents to learn about urban ecology in their own neighborhoods. The studio project builds on the City’s open space plan goals by planning improved access to water resources, increased connectivity between existing parks and open space, and safer bicycle and pedestrian connections. The project also strives to improve water quality in the Blackstone River and reduce stormwater runoff by a series of green infrastructure improvements throughout the City. Finally, the project addresses the existing wayfinding challenges in Worcester to help visitors and local residents alike access the City’s historical, cultural, and natural resources.
The senior undergraduate, Bachelors of Landscape Architecture studio at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst developed a town-wide greenway plan for the Town of Framingham’s Department of Community and Economic Development. This conceptual plan connects the town’s natural, cultural, and recreational resources through a network of pedestrian and bike trails. This plan also seeks to connect the diverse neighborhoods within the Town to these resources and provide alternative means of local residents to access jobs, schools, and retail centers. The greenway plan builds on Framingham’s Open Space and Recreation Plan (2013), which identified the need for a regional greenway system to link the town to the many local and regional recreational, cultural, ecological, and economic resources. This capstone planning and design studio began with an analysis and assessment of the Town of Framingham’s natural, recreational, cultural, and transportation/land use resources. Teams of students developed alternative greenway plans for the town and region, respectively. These plans were synthesized to produce the composite greenway plan. The students also developed site specific designs for key linkages within the greenway network including the industrial village of Saxonville, historic Framingham Center, the Tech Park, and downtown Framingham.
This report describes a proposed multi-modal greenway network that links dinosaur-related sites in the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts and Connecticut. The study conducted by the fall 2015 MLA studio at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst included assessment and design work at regional, sub-regional, and site scales. The proposed Dinosaur Trail Project greenway network was designed to incorporate the goals of the client, the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, a historical and cultural organization based in Deerfield, Massachusetts. The project will help preserve, interpret, and highlight the rich history of dinosaur track discovery in the region for future generations.