Lake George – The Lake George Waterkeeper is sponsoring a seminar “Challenges and Solutions Using Low Impact Development” on May 5, 2011 at the Holiday Inn Resort in Lake George, NY. This seminar features presentations from regionally and nationally recognized experts on Low Impact Development (LID) and stormwater management.
The seminar is free and intended for land use professionals, area review board members, regulatory agency staff and the development community. The seminar runs all day, from 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM and lunch is provided.
The FUND for Lake George, program sponsor for the Lake George Waterkeeper, is an approved sponsor of continuing education for professional engineers in New York State and will be offering continuing education credits. In addition, the seminar will provide education credits for municipal review board members. Although there is no registration fee, all participants must register in advance as space is limited.
“We are excited about the upcoming full day seminar on Low Impact Development, which will be the first of its kind in the area. We have been able to provide some of the most informed and experienced professionals involved with Low Impact Development since its inception in the early 1990s” said Chris Navitsky, the Lake George Waterkeeper. “This program is designed to provide solutions utilizing Low Impact Development measures to various issues encountered during development, from the design 2
process through construction. It is my hope this will challenge the professional land use community to raise the quality of development in relation to stormwater management and show the usefulness and applicability of Low Impact Development.”
The intent of the seminar is to raise the awareness of Low Impact Development measures to land use professionals, municipal review board members and the development community, to answer questions regarding their implementation and increase the comfort level with these measures. The format of the seminar will be a focus on problems that are typically encountered during site development and how Low Impact Development can provide solutions.
The seminar will be divided into three sessions along with a keynote speaker and end-of-day panel discussion. The session topics were chosen to provide a general introduction to basic concepts of Low Impact Development. Soils, which are the topic of the first session, are extremely valuable for stormwater management and treatment and very often are overlooked and not understood. Land use and construction activities can completely removed or alter the characteristics of soil, which are important for runoff reductions. As soil becomes compacted, it loses porosity and organic content and runoff will increase and water quality will decrease. The topic of the second session is the impact of impervious cover on stormwater runoff and water quality. There are simple design methods to reduce impervious cover, which has an overall benefit for water quality as well as the landowner or developer through cost reduction. These methods include reduced driving surface widths, green roofs and stormwates conveyance methods. These discussions are essential because designs may appear good on paper, but it must be known that they can be effective and economical when installed. The third session will focus on examples from the field of how Low Impact Development measures are constructed and implemented. This will include a design comparison with standard practice models as well as a perspective from the construction industry. Each of these components are necessary for the progress and acceptance of Low Impact Development.
The approach of the seminar is to bring several perspectives on the site development process for a comprehensive discussion. Presenters will include representatives of state and local agencies (regulatory and non-regulatory), research experts, professional engineers and the building industry. Through this discussion the full potential and benefit of Low Impact Development can be realized.
The keynote speaker for the seminar will be Larry Coffman, who has been referred to as the “Father of Low Impact Development.” Mr. Coffman is currently the President of LNSB, LLLP Stormwater Services Group, but is better known as the pioneer and developer of the Low Impact Development concept, which he started during his days as Associate Director of Prince George’s County Department of Environmental Resources, Maryland. Mr. Coffman was the principal author and architect of Low Impact Development Strategies, An Integrated design Approach, which is the initial design manual for the implementation of Low Impact Development. His concept of creating hydrologically and ecologically functional landscapes is the basis of Low Impact Development.
Other recognized presenters will be Shirley Clark, Ph.D., P.E. a associate/Assistant Professor of Environmental Engineering at Penn State Harrisburg; Deb Caraco, P.E., Senior Wastershed Engineer for the Center for Watershed Protection; Paul Mankiewicz, Ph.D., Executive Director with The Gaia Institute; Steve Trinkaus, P.E., principal engineer with Trinkaus Engineering, LLC and Lewis Dubuque, Executive Vice President of the New York State Builders Association.
This seminar is being made possible through a grant from the Lake Champlain Basin Program’s public education program.
For more information, contact Chris Navitsky at the Lake George Waterkeeper at (518)668-5913 x301. For registration forms, please visit www.lakegeorgewaterkeeper.org.
