Letters to the Editor

Editor
Your continuing coverage of low-impact development (January/February 2003 issue) is very important and most appreciated. I was especially pleased that the article covered the work of landscape architects in this process. However, the few samples shown of work by my colleague Joan Nassauer, FASLA, show only a small part of the services that landscape architects can provide in the LID process. The article's implication, while not intended, is that landscape architects can really help at the end of the process through the installation of rain gardens, rain barrels, and other "landscaping" improvements. In truth, we should be a design team member from the very beginning of the process so as to assist the client by developing a site design for a successful project that is both context and environmentally sensitive, as well as aesthetically pleasing, functional, and cost-effective.

I can attest to Larry Coffman's zeal in pursuit of LID projects in Prince George's County, MD. Thanks to an earlier article by Stormwater that quoted Coffman, I was able to meet and talk with Larry at his office in March 2001. Although his schedule did not permit him to be my tour guide, he did provide me with copies of his LID manuals and the addresses of several successful LID projects. Thanks again, Larry and Stormwater.

Kent E. Watson, FASLA, Principal/Landscape Architect
Kent Watson & Associates, Missoula, MT

Editor:
What a great story by Mary Catherine Hager on low-impact development! Larry Coffman and Neil Weinstein (quoted frequently in the story) have shown laudable leadership in weaning us from failed engineering fixes for bad design. In Washington, there are now five jurisdictions that have optional standards for zero-/low-impact development. The City of Olympia is the first that I know of that requires low-impact development standards in at least one watershed. Are there other places in the United States (or anywhere) where low-impact development standards are required for new construction? For redevelopment?

Thomas W. Holz
SCA Consulting Group, Lacey, WA

SW - March/April 2003