Effective December 1, 2016
Olympia has passed new Low Impact Development (LID) regulations.
LID is an approach to land development (or re-development) that works with nature to manage stormwater as close to where it falls as possible.
LID employs principles such as preserving and re-creating natural landscape features, and minimizing imperviousness to create functional and appealing site drainage that treats stormwater as a resource rather than a waste product.
By implementing LID principles and practices, stormwater can be managed in a way that reduces the impact of built areas and promotes the natural movement of water within an ecosystem.
LID Code Revisions 
The following regulations were passed by Olympia's City Council on July 12, 2016 in order to make LID stormwater techniques the commonly used approach to site development.
LID Regulations:
Low Impact Development Code Revisions Project
The Washington Department of Ecology recently included provisions in the 2013-2018 Western Washington Phase II Municipal Stormwater Permit that require revisions to the City’s codes and standards to make low impact development the “preferred and commonly-used approach to site development”.
What is the City required to do?
The revisions were designed to minimize impervious surfaces, native vegetation loss, and stormwater runoff in all types of development situations. Specifically, the permit requires the City to:
- Review, revise and make effective local development-related codes, rules, standards, or other enforceable documents to incorporate and require LID principles and LID best management practices (BMPs).
- Adopt a drainage manual equivalent to Ecology’s 2012 Stormwater Management Manual for Western Washington
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Other Documents
LID Technique Issue Papers
Staff developed 22 issue papers that analyze options for how to incorporate low impact development techniques into Olympia’s codes and standards.
Questions?
Contact Steve Thompson at 360.753.8397 or sthompso@ci.olympia.wa.us