Forging the Link is a training for Municipal Officials or educators that demonstrates the substantive economic benefits that are increasingly being observed by municipalities, commercial developers, and others when using a combination of Gray and Green infrastructure for stormwater management.

The focus is on articulating the critical economic connections between Low Impact Development planning and:

i)                 watershed health,

ii)                community resiliency as it relates to land use effects on urban hydrology, and

iii)               mitigation of infrastructure stresses from climate change.

Historically, the incentives for use of Low Impact Development (LID) have been narrowly limited to water quality improvements however, the message should be far broader. This training brings a body of quantitative information from a range of case studies around the country, which articulates to local officials, the economic and public safety incentives for adoption of LID. This project, was developed following a regional partnership approach, has wide-spread transferability to a range of municipal interests nationwide and will be an important element to addressing barriers to the implementation of more effective stormwater management strategies. Information will be presented on case studies for commercial development and municipal infrastructure projects for both construction budgets and project life-cycle costs. It also includes information on the use of LID as an adaptation planning tool, and, in particular, as a means for building community resiliency in managing water resources.