Sand River Headwaters Green Infrastructure Project, City of Aiken, South Carolina: A Collaborative Team Approach to Implementing Green Infrastructure Practices

ð ABSTRACT. The concepts of green infrastructure and low impact development provide a series of procedures and practices to modify the magnitude, frequency, and duration of stormwater runoff. Projects utilizing low-impact development design attempt to address the hydrologic and hydraulic challenges associated with urban stormwater by mimicing pre- development hydrology to enhance infiltration and treatment functions on site. The City of Aiken's Sand River Headwaters Green Infrastructure Project incorporates sustainable development practices in downtown watersheds with the goal of reducing ongoing impacts to the principal green infrastructure component of the city - Hitchcock Woods. Rain gardens, bioswales, underground cisterns, and pervious pavement provide smart green solutions. These Best Management Practices (BMPs) enhance nature's capacity to absorb stormwater, and provide both economic and environmentally sound approaches to reducing stormwater flows negatively impacting Sand River, Hitchcock Woods, and other downstream impaired waters. This project also enhances the city's environmental health while demonstrating community-based leadership towards sustainability.