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University of Rhode Island CE Water Quality Program
CSREES New England Water Quality Programming in Rhode Island
Agricultural Nutrient and Pest Management
Animal Waste Management
New England Private Well Initiative
New England NEMO
Rivers and Stream Restoration
Sustainable Landscaping
Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring
CSREES New England Water Quality Programming in Rhode Island
University of Rhode Island (URI) Cooperative Extension Water Quality Program
University of Rhode Island (URI) Cooperative Extension
University of Rhode Island (URI) Agricultural Experiment Station
Agricultural Nutrient and Pest Management
is
being conducted at URI is
a collaborative of the six New England Land Grant Universities
and their Cooperative Extension programs working together
to communicate IPM research and information with a regional
focus.
Related Research:
Project ID Title Investigator(s) Affiliation 0174333 RHODE ISLAND'S 1997 CSREES NAPIAP PROGRAM Alm, S. R. UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 0198448 GROUNDWATER NITRATE REMOVAL CAPACITY OF RIPARIAN ZONES IN MIXED USE WATERSHEDS Gold, A. J. UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 0182775 SUBSURFACE RIPARIAN N REMOVAL: THE ROLE OF LANDSCAPE SETTING Gold, A. J.; Groffman, P. M.; Stolt, M.; Addy, K. UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 0188376 CONTROL OF NITRATE IN WATERSHEDS AFFECTED BY UNSEWERED RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT Gold, A. J.; Loomis, G.; Addy, K.; Green, L UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 0174445 INTEGRATED TURFGRASS MANAGEMENT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ENHANCEMENT AND RESOURCE CONSERVATION Jackson, N. , Alm, S. R. , and Hull, R. J. UNIV OF RHODE ISLAND 0179673 INCREASING ROOT ZONE DEPTH AND SEASONAL EFFICACY FOR CONSTRUCTED WETLAND FILTERS Maynard, B. K. UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND
is
being conducted at URI.. is
collaborating with the CT NEMO
Program and
the USDA NRCS Rhode Island to adapt and examine the use of bioretention
filters for small livestock operations. Treatment of leachate
from composted manure and runoff from heavy use horse paddocks
will be the initial focus of the work. Results will be incorporated
into URI Cooperative Extension’s small
acreage livestock education program .
This team recently gave a presentation on "Bio-infiltration
and Bio-reactors: New WQ BMPs for Agricultural Applications
in Southern RI?" 
at
the Southern New England Chapter of the Soil and Water Conservaton
Society's Low Impact Development Workshop. New England Private Well Initiative
.
The brochures will be distributed along with accompanying display
board to public places within RI. on
the ability of septic sytem leachfields to remove antibiotics
from wastewater, on the antibiotic resistance of fecal coliform
bacteria, and on the improvement of water quality. Also at URI,
a drinking
water treatment research and teaching laboratory is
being developed. This laboratory will be used for water treatment
research as well as to teach both students and operators about
advanced drinking water treatment processes. determined landscape
controls of riparian zone groundwater nitrate removal 
.
These insights were translated into methods that can be adapted
to available spatial databases and enhanced our ability to target
high value riparian zones for protection and restoration to
improve or maintain water quality. The URI
NEMO Program (Nonpoint
Education for Municipal Officials) has incorporated these results
into their programming with municipal officials and modeling
efforts. Additional research at the Watershed Hydrology Laboratory
is examining the effect
watershed land use practices on
the hydrology, soils, and groundwater nitrate removal function
of riparian zones. and
translate results into a model to be tested extensively and distributed
via the National
NEMO Network . at
URI incorporates field and demonstration labs highlighting several
aspects of New England Regional Water Program, including learning
about groundwater recharge and well-water protection.,
the URI
NEMO (Nonpoint
Education for Municipal Officials) program and the URI
Onsite Wastewater Training Center are
working to build local capacity for management of onsite wastewater systems.
Three coastal communities are establishing comprehensive municipal wastewater
management ordinances to inspect, maintain, retrofit and upgrade onsite
treatment systems incorporating selective use of advanced treatment systems
in a watershed-based approach. program
developed the MANAGE
(Method for Assessment, Nutrient-loading, and Geographic Evaluation
of watersheds) model .
By applying a simplified hydrologic / nutrient loading model
to specific soils and land use types in study areas. URI NEMO
program provides community-customized outreach programs to help
rural communities and land trusts identify and evaluate pollution
risks related to land use and onsite wastewater disposal. Based
on such assessments, several RI communities adopted town wastewater
management ordinances requiring septic system inspection, repair
and upgrading to protect local groundwater supplies and coastal
waters. For example, in one town, all cesspools will be replaced
with 6,000 onsite wastewater treatment systems. 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. 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. 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. is
developing computer-based
tools to
help communities plan with knowledge of the impacts of development
on ecosystems, water quality, town finances, and the character
of the community. have
worked in riparian zones, streams and reservoirs to refine the
understanding of nitrogen removal in watersheds. Their results
are translated into methods that can be adapted to available
spatial databases and enhance our ability to target high value
areas for protection and restoration to improve or maintain water
quality. course
incorporates field and demonstration labs on a variety of water
quality topics including geospatial analysis of water quality
risk indicators for community-based watershed management. with
URI, UConn and ASU is creating new curricula and training opportunities
for undergraduate (URI Coastal
Fellows Program )
and graduate students (NSF funded IGERT
PhD training program at
URI) to provide insights into watershed nitrogen dynamics and
understanding of the rigor required to develop accessible decision
support tools for coastal decision makers. Both programs have
outcome assessment structures to determine educational value
for these efforts. at
UMass inventories and addresses barriers to fish movement and
river and stream continuity. This project has expanded
the online
database for
road-stream crossings to accomodate more than 2,300 volunteer-based surveys
collected in CT, RI, VT and NH. Data and computed scores from
the database are available for viewing and may be downloaded
from the web site. Elements of this project's River
and Stream Crossing Standards
have been incorporated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers into
the Programmatic General Permits (PGP) for MA, ME, CT and RI. .
This research will improve our understanding of basic watershed
processes as well as provide insight to managers in targeting
stream management and restoration for the reduction of watershed
nitrogen. provide
water quality information for volunteers responding to consumer questions.
Master Gardeners participate in a variety of landscaping projects
within RI.,
modeled after the National Home*A*Syst Program, train residents and
local volunteers in Rhode
Island to
identify and reduce water quality risks in and around the home. conducted
2 pilot training courses for over 100 landscape professionals
as part of a "coastal landscape certification" program.
In the near future, RI Coastal Resources Management Council
(CRMC) will require that landscape professionals working in CRMC
jurisdiction be certified in topics ranging from rain gardens, turf
management, invasive species and buffer zone re-vegetation. on
what the focus issues should be. at
URI educates homeowners on pollution prevention
best management practices that they can implement in their
backyards to protect water quality (McCann,
2004 ).
One output of the project was the creation of educational materials
on rain
gardens.
More than 500 URI Master Gardeners were trained about sustainable
landscaping practices. Over 80% of the individuals (in Healthy
Landscapes program evaluation) indicated a willingness to change
their yard care practices to better protect their water quality.
More than 54% of respondents have adopted at least one sustainable
landscaping practice. to
extension efforts to reduce the application of excess nutrients
by homeowners in targeted, urbanizing neighborhoods throughout
New England. in
Rhode Island turfgrasses. have
worked in riparian zones, streams and reservoirs to refine the
understanding of nitrogen removal in watersheds. Their results
are translated into methods that can be adapted to available
spatial databases and enhance our ability to target high value
areas for protection and restoration to improve or maintain water
quality. .
Major growers and landscapers in the northeast attended workshops
and cooperated in growing trial production blocks. A related
project at URI developed
and evaluated novel alternative methods of plant propagation and production that
will lead to reduced chemical inputs, thereby protecting water
resources. Program,
a CSREES-funded Extension Education project. Students learn about
pollution prevention best management practices to protect drinking
water and assist in the development of demonstration sites.Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring
State Contacts,
with the URI Cooperative
Extension Water Quality Program ,
focuses on providing current information on the water quality of
surface water resources throughout Rhode Island. It is a service provider
to statewide and local decision-makers and is the sole source of long-term
lake water quality data for RI. URIWW monitoring efforts on Stafford Pond
motivated local residents and farmers to determine the cause of water quality
problems within the watershed. As a result, manure management practices
on a nearby farm were improved and stormwater problems were rectified. The
efforts fostered further watershed collaboration with other Cooperative
Extension projects including URI Home*A*Syst, Nonpoint
Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO) program,
and On-site
Wastewater Training Center . was
formed by the New England Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring
programs and coordinates the delivery of training and related
services regionally. In 2005, NERMC brought together federal,
state, and volunteer water quality monitoring partners at the
New England Monitoring Summit to develop a sustainable support
system for volunteer monitoring. Following the summit, a final report outlined
recommendations to ensure adequate resources and technical support
to sustain and expand volunteer water quality monitoring efforts
in New England. a
cooperative effort between the Universities of Rhode Island and
Wisconsin, built a comprehensive support system for the 38
identified Extension-related volunteer water quality monitoring
programs across the country. Project leaders were featured
on a U.S. EPA watershed academy webcast "Getting
Started in Volunteer Monitoring".
By assuming the leadership role as a national service provider
for these programs, this project has improved communication,
information sharing and coordination among programs, researchers,
and partners within states, across regions, and nationally. program
conducted a study comparing volunteer collected
data with professional collected data. They found no
significant differences between the two adding support to volunteer
data credibility. For more information, contact Linda
Green. annually
sponsors two to three students in the URI
Coastal Fellows Program ,
an experiential learning program that enables students to engage
in research and Extension efforts.Related Water Quality Information in Rhode Island
Digital Atlases
Total Maximum Daily Load Program
Source Water Assessment Program (SWAP)
Storm Water Phase II Program
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page last modified on
July 1, 2008