Low-Impact Development Practices for Urban Runoff Reduction near River Corridors

Urbanization increases impervious cover and accelerates stormwater delivery to nearby streams and rivers, often resulting in higher runoff volumes, shorter response times, flashier hydrographs, channel instability, and degraded water quality. Low-impact development (LID) practices aim to manage runoff close to its source by enhancing infiltration, detention, storage, evapotranspiration, and pollutant removal. This short review summarizes how common LID practices can reduce urban runoff near river corridors and support more stable hydrologic and hydraulic behavior in receiving waters. The paper first outlines the concept of LID and its relevance to urban river systems. It then reviews the main practices commonly applied in built environments, including bioretention cells, permeable pavements, green roofs, vegetated swales, and riparian buffer measures. Their primary hydrologic and hydraulic benefits are discussed in terms of runoff volume reduction, peak-flow attenuation, delayed runoff response, and reduced erosive stress on urban channels. The review also highlights key implementation challenges, including maintenance needs, clogging, limited land availability, groundwater constraints, and reduced effectiveness during extreme storms. The paper concludes that LID is most effective near river corridors when implemented as a distributed source-control strategy that is integrated with riparian protection and broader catchment-scale flood and water-quality management.