Be a Part of Putting Together the City's LID Handbook!

The City of LA’s Low Impact Development (LID) ordinance is moving forward and the Bureau of Sanitation wants to make sure its landmark LID guidelines will best serve our community. In a unique and transparent effort, the LA Stormwater Program will be coordinating the efforts of public officials, stakeholders, private industry and the general citizenry in the development of a LID Handbook.

And we want you on the team.

This Handbook will be a crucial tool in effectively implementing LID once the ordinance has made its way through the adoption process. The City will have only 90 days after the ordinance’s passage to develop and adopt a LID Handbook, so over the course of the next six months, with your help, we are going to get a head start.

Beginning with a May 20th launch meeting, the City of Los Angeles will coordinate the volunteer efforts of LA residents, stakeholders and non-profits in the formulation of a LID Handbook. While the Handbook itself will be technically oriented, we have a few different roles so that you can get involved in this critical process regardless of your level of LID expertise:

Community Voices: If you are generally concerned and interested in water quality and would like to remain informed about LID related updates, including the development of the handbook, then this is the role for you. Community Voices are civic minded citizens who may not have enough time or technical expertise to be a part of the actual writing of the LID Handbook but would like to be kept in the loop. To become a Community Voice, all you have to do is sign up for our eNewsletter. If you are already signed up, make sure that the “Low Impact Development (LID) Updates” box is checked in your preferences.

Consulting Advisors: Like our Community Voices, Consulting Advisors are civic minded residents and stakeholders who may not have the expertise to be a part of the technical committee, but still want to remain actively involved. Consulting Advisors should expect to spend a bit more time on the LID Handbook project than Community Voices, generally contributing one hour of their time per month through the attendance of approximately 3-4 meetings over the life-cycle of the Handbook writing process. Advisors will also take an active role in some of the big picture issues of the LID Handbook while leaving the more nitty-gritty of the writing to the Technical Partners group. If you’re interested in becoming a Consulting Advisor, please follow this link.

Technical Partners: If you have experience in LID, water quality or Best Management Practices (BMP) development then we hope you’ll join us on this committee. Builders, non-profits, landscape architects and engineers are some of the folks who would feel right at home here. Technical Partners can expect to spend three hours per month in regular meetings and will be directly involved in the details of the LID Handbook. If you are interested in becoming a Technical Partner, please follow this link.

As a whole, this is a terrific and rare opportunity to get involved in the real work of the civic environmental community. Not only will you be getting the chance to witness the evolution of a major municipal work, you will be helping to ensure the safety of future generations by participating on the ground level of systemic change.

So whether you are ready to join the team or have a few questions which you would like to ask us in person, please plan on attending the LID Handbook launch meeting on May 20th from 1 – 3pm at the LA River Center (570 West Avenue 26). If you have questions now, please feel free to email us at LAstormwater@lacity.org. This is about writing a low impact development handbook that will help build the Los Angeles we all want to live in – make sure you’re a part of it.