Calculating the Environmental Impacts of Low-Impact Development Using Long-Term Hydrologic Impact Assessment: A Review of Model Applications
Date
2023-03-04
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Land
Abstract
Low-impact development (LID) is a planning and design strategy that addresses water quality and quantity while providing co-benefits in the urban and suburban landscape. The Long-Term Hydrologic Impact Assessment (L-THIA) model estimates runoff and pollutant loadings using simple inputs of land use, soil type, and climatic data for the watershed-scale analysis of average annual runoff based on curve number analysis. Using Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, we screened 303 articles that included the search term “L-THIA”, identifying 47 where L-THIA was used as the primary research method. After review, articles were categorized on the basis of the primary purpose of the use of L-THIA, including site screening, future scenarios and long-term impacts, site planning and design, economic impacts, model verification and calibration, and broader applications including policy development or flood mitigation. A growing body of research documents the use of L-THIA models across landscapes in applications such as the simulations of pollutant loadings for land use change scenarios and the evaluation of designs and cost-effectiveness. While the existing literature demonstrates that L-THIA models are a useful tool, future directions should include more innovative applications such as intentional community engagement and a focus on equity, climate change impacts, and the return on investment and performance of LID practices to address gaps in knowledge.
Description
This article was originally published in Land. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/land12030612. © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).
Keywords
L-THIA, low-impact development, performance modeling, green infrastructure, urbanization, runoff, pollutant loading, sustainable cities and communities, climate action
Citation
Cai, Zhenhang, Rui Zhu, Emma Ruggiero, Galen Newman, and Jennifer A. Horney. 2023. "Calculating the Environmental Impacts of Low-Impact Development Using Long-Term Hydrologic Impact Assessment: A Review of Model Applications" Land 12, no. 3: 612. https://doi.org/10.3390/land12030612