The goal of LID practices is to “preserve, restore and create green space” utilizing on-site natural features and rainwater harvesting techniques (City of Vancouver, n.d.). Principles employed by LID practices address both functional and aesthetic values such as recreating predevelopment landscape and minimizing the impervious surface areas to build functional and attractive drainage systems to recycle stormwater as a resource. Commonly adopted LID practices adhering to these principles include (but are not limited to) absorbent landscapes, pervious paving, infiltration trench, bio-swale, rain gardens, box planters, roof water collection systems, constructed wetlands, and soil amendments. The table below summarizes the suitability of common LID practices for multiple land uses (click pictures to view details for each LID practice).
Summary of BMP Suitability for Land Uses
| TOOL | BEST SUITABLE IN | IMPACTS ON RUNOFF |
 Absorbent Landscape | Low/Medium Density Housing, Commercial Mixed Use, Industrial, Institutional, Parks & Green Space. | Intercept and clean rainwater through soil pores, allowing groundwater recharge through slow infiltration. |
 Infiltration Swale | Low/Medium Density Housing (infiltration swale along narrow linear strips, boulevards & driveways) (Maximum contributing area 2 ha). | Capture, detain, treat and convey stormwater to mitigate runoff volume and improve water quality. |
 Rain Garden | Low/Medium Density Housing (install rain gardens at natural low points of property in place of regular shrub beds). | Infiltrate, capture, and filter stormwater to reduce runoff volume and improve water quality. |
 Pervious Paving | Low/Medium Density Housing (driveways, walkways, patios). | Infiltrate and treat stormwater and provide hard surfaces for transportation needs. |
 Green Roof | Commercial, Industrial (desirable in residential areas, but cost of adequate soil depth for rainwater management may be prohibitive). | Reduce peak flows and runoff volume, depending on the growing medium depth. |
 Infiltration Trench | Use only for roof drainage or after pre-treatment of parking runoff. | Hold and infiltrate water to subsurface soils to reduce runoff volume. Cannot improve water quality. |
 Rainwater Harvesting | Gain advice on plumbing and treatment for toilet aesthetic considerations. | Capture, store and reuse runoff generated from roof surfaces. Cannot improve water quality. |
 Constructed Wetland | Parks & green space (requiring adequate drainage area for summer base flow) | Detain, store and treat stormwater through natural processes before discharge to streams. |
The redevelopment/intensification of the existing housing structure is the predominant urbanization trend in Mosquito Creek Watershed (Metro Vancouver, 2011), and this case study aims to provide a sub-watershed scale analysis that covers an area over 500 ha. Therefore, absorbent landscapes, rain gardens, and pervious paving will be addressed as practical solutions to mitigate the impacts of increasing impervious surface areas.
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