Ditchmen • NUCA of Florida Ditchmen • April 2017 | Page 27

LOW IMPACT STORM
WATER SYSTEM
MAXIMIZES RESULTS
Using Low Impact
Development (LID) in its
plan to control storm water
runoff in Sarasota, design
engineering firm DMK
Associates, Inc. (Venice, Fla.)
was able to create a system
that would protect a local
aquatic preserve and reduce
construction costs for local
businesses. This concept
reduces storm water runoff
volumes, treats storm water
pollution and beautifies the
neighborhood.
The LID project for the
Englewood area of Sarasota
incorporates environmentally-
sound components such as
bioswales, multiple layers
of soil, separators and inlet
filters to capture pollutants
and treat a wide range of
flow rates. Because these
LID techniques maximize the
effectiveness of reducing and
treating storm water runoff in
a small area, this project has
become another standard of
the industry.
For several years, the
Sarasota Board of County
Commissioners had
been planning storm
water improvements
for the Dearborn Street
neighborhood of Englewood.
The West Dearborn
neighborhood has struggled
economically, which some
attribute to the lack of
centralized storm water
infrastructure serving the
area. Sarasota County’s
storm water management
regulations would require
any newly developed
or redeveloped lots on
Dearborn Street to include
expensive storm water
management systems on the
site, designed and installed at
the developer’s cost.
The first goal of the storm
water infrastructure upgrade
was to improve and protect
the water quality of the
nearby Lemon Bay Aquatic
Preserve by eliminating
the discharge of untreated
storm water from the entire
Dearborn Street district.
The second was to build
a sustainable storm water
management infrastructure
that would eliminate the
need for local businesses
and commercial developers
to bear the expense of
implementing their own
storm water treatment
systems. This would have
a favorable impact on the
local economy, lowering
the cost of new commercial
construction and spurring
the redevelopment of
the downtown and its
surroundings.
The original design proposal
relied on a large underground
vault system to capture and
detain storm water runoff.
The concept of LID was
recommended to the Board
of County Commissioners
as an alternative that would
meet the storm water
management requirements
plus provide the additional
benefits of neighborhood
beautification, parking and
traffic flow improvements
and increased pedestrian
safety. The West Dearborn
Street LID Project of Sarasota
had an original cost estimate
of $7.2 million but by using
the LID approach the cost
was some $3 million less
than the underground vault
APRIL 2017 • DITCHMEN
27