Community leaders and others need simple tools to account for the many
factors involved with watershed protection.
The New England Water
Program helps communities use geo-spatial technologies like geographic
information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GPS), remote sensing cutting-edge research techniques and tools to protect our water resources and rural watersheds.
NEMO Programs
The CT NEMO program distributes and conducts trainings on numerous watershed management tools and documents success stories 
in the communities in which they work. NEMO programs and references have been incorporated into many CT state plans and policy documents . CT NEMO also provides coordination and leadership of the National NEMO Network, with 33 members in 32 states.
CT NEMO
,
and its sister project, the NAUTILUS Center, have several interactive internet mapping sites (
CLEAR
),
where land use managers can download land cover, watershed, and other information using their internet browser.
URI
NEMO and Geospatial
Technology Programs have
developed a new web resource on land cover change in RI, that
is based on CT NEMO's Connecticut
Changing Landscape website.
URI NEMO program uses the MANAGE model to help rural communities and land trusts identify and evaluate water pollution risks
related to land use and onsite wastewater disposal. Several RI communities have
adopted town wastewater management ordinances requiring septic system inspection, repair
and upgrading to protect local groundwater supplies and coastal waters as a result of URI NEMO's work.
URI NEMO
has partnered with the Rhode Island Department of Health to conduct
Source Water Assessments
using MANAGE in the State's major water supplies serving over 75% of the State's population.
The other New England NEMO programs, the
New Hampshire Natural Resources Outreach Coalition
, the VT NEMO program
and the Maine NEMO
program use, train and distribute similar watershed management tools.
GIS Education Programs
CSREES New England Extension programs offer classes and training to the general
public and local officials on the use of Geographic Information Systems. For example:
University of Connecticut
GeoSpatial Technology Program
University of Massachusetts Extension Connecticut River Watershed Monitoring Project
Professional Development Workshops
University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension
GIS/GPS Training
University of Rhode Island Cooperative Extension
Geographic Information System Training Programs
Other Programs
UNH Cooperative Extension coordinates several
programs that help community members accomplish natural resource
related goals. The
Community Conservation Assistance Program
assists NH communities and conservation groups with land and water conservation planning projects.
Also, university students in the
Community Environmental Outreach Program (CEOP)
are matched student teams to community requests for assistance with
environmental projects such as natural resource inventories
RI has one of the most complete, high resolution GIS databases assembled
for any large area housed at the
URI Environmental Data Center
.
To enable local officials, resource managers and land developers to take advantage
of this data storehouse, URI Cooperative Extension has developed the
Rapid Site Assessment Guide
.
This guide describes how basic Rhode Island Atlas GIS maps and higher resolution
RIGIS coverages can be used to systematically inventory natural resources and screen
site suitability for development.
URI, CT NEMO, and ASU will trasmit their developed
environmental spatial decision support system to
NEMO programs and NRCS. This tool will help communities and NRCS to isolate
and protect watershed areas where nitrogen pollution removal is expected
and focus efforts on reducing sources of nitrogen in watersheds with little
pollution removal capacity.