# Presentation: 040245

## New England is one of 10 regions making up the 406 National Water Program, “A partnership of USDA CSREES and the Land Grant System”

**New England is one of 10 regions making up the 406 National Water Program, **“*A partnership of USDA CSREES and the Land Grant System*”

## The New England Regional Water Program

**Long-Term Goal:**
- 	To strengthen the Land Grant Universities’ capacity to deliver an _integrated water quality program_ that educates, empowers, and engages agricultural producers, residents and communities throughout New England to become effective stewards of their local water resources.

## INTEGRATED

- Extension

- Education

- Research

**Land Grant Capacity **

## Land Grant Capacity 

**Land Grant Capacity **

**Needs identified**
**Research conducted and disseminated**
**Education delivered and evaluated**
**Additional needs identified...**

## The New England Regional Water Program

- Creates _locally relevant_, _research-based_ education and extension programs focused on individual and community environmental management.
- Identifies needs and builds upon successful local programs _leveraging multiple sources of support and partnerships_.
- _Works at both local and regional scales_ to develop, test and refine programs.
- Creates and _disseminates new materials, tools and curricula_ for use throughout New England.

## New England Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO)
New England Private Well Initiative
Nutrient and Pest Management on Organic Farms
Reducing Phosphorus Impacts With Manure Management
River and Stream Restoration
Sustainable Landscaping
Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring

**New England Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO)**
**New England Private Well Initiative**
**Nutrient and Pest Management on Organic Farms**
**Reducing Phosphorus Impacts With Manure Management**
**River and Stream Restoration**
**Sustainable Landscaping**
**Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring**

**Focus Areas**

## Focus Area: New England NEMO

**Focus Area: New England NEMO**

- Programs that combine geo-spatial technologies, community education, demonstrations, and hands-on training to assist local decision makers
- and citizens in watershed management

**Goals**:
- To use geo-spatial technologies to demonstrate land use effects on water quality
- To work with communities to protect local water resources through better planning
- To develop and maintain partnerships among state NEMO programs, the National NEMO network, Land Grant Universities, environmental organizations and local officials.

**Audience**:  Planning boards, conservation commissions, councils, citizens and a variety of land stewards

## Partner Organizations Include:
EPA
NOAA
Nat. Estuarine Research Reserve
Sea Grant 
U.S. Geological Survey
USDA NRCS
State environmental agencies and planning offices
Lake and watershed associations
Regional planning commissions

**Focus Area: New England NEMO**

**Partner Organizations Include:**
- EPA
- NOAA
- Nat. Estuarine Research Reserve
- Sea Grant
- U.S. Geological Survey
- USDA NRCS
- State environmental agencies and planning offices
- Lake and watershed associations
- Regional planning commissions

**Example Program:**
**Linking Land Use to Water Quality**
- (Connecticut NEMO)
**Outreach Method: **Workshops
**Audience: **Local land use officials

**Topics:**
- Relationship of land use to natural resource protection
- Use of geospatial technologies for watershed assessment

**Impact:** Influenced towns to change land use plans, regulations and policies to protect water quality

## Focus Area: New England Private Well Initiative

**Focus Area: New England Private Well Initiative**

- A _multi-state_, _inter-agency_ initiative to protect quality and quantity of groundwater for private well users.

**Goals**:
- To educate private well owners to test their wells regularly and respond
- To identify critical research and educational needs
- To develop and share expertise and resources throughout the region
- To strengthen connections between research, Extension and regulatory and technical assistance groups

**Audience**:  Includes private well owners, community leaders, and public health officials

## Partner Organizations Include:
EPA
Water Systems Council
American Groundwater Trust
USDA NRCS
RCAP Solutions
Extension programs
State health departments and environmental	 agencies
Home*A*Syst
Farm*A*Syst

**Focus Area: New England Private Well Initiative**

**Partner Organizations Include:**
- EPA
- Water Systems Council
- American Groundwater Trust
- USDA NRCS
- RCAP Solutions
- Extension programs
- State health departments and environmental	 agencies
- Home*A*Syst
- Farm*A*Syst

**Example Program**:
**Home*A*Syst Private Well Protection Education**
- (Rhode Island Department of Health and the University of Rhode Island)
**Outreach Methods**: Educational materials and workshops
**Audience**: Private well owners

**Topics**:
- Well water testing and treatment
- Reducing water quality contamination around the home

## Focus Area: Nutrient and Pest Management on Organic Farms

**Focus Area: Nutrient and Pest Management on Organic Farms**

- Programs that draw upon educational and research successes to address water quality issues related to organic farming systems.

**Goals**: To help farmers address issues related to organic farming, such as minimizing weed pressure through cropping system ecology and the application of organic nutrient sources to minimize nutrient loss

**Audience**: Agricultural service providers, farmers, Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (NESAWG), and food system organizations such as Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs)

## Partner Organizations Include:
EPA
USDA NRCS
Farm Services Agency
American Agronomy Society
U.S. Geological Survey
State environmental and agricultural agencies

**Focus Area: Nutrient and Pest Management on Organic Farms**

**Partner Organizations Include:**
- EPA
- USDA NRCS
- Farm Services Agency
- American Agronomy Society
- U.S. Geological Survey
- State environmental and agricultural agencies

**Example**** Program**:
**2004 University of Maine Sustainable Agriculture Field Day**
**Outreach Methods**: Demonstrations and research-based presentations
**Audience**: Farmers, researchers, agency representatives and educators

**Topics**:
- Non-chemical weed management
- Soil quality in vegetable production
- Insect predation on weed seed

## Focus Area: Reducing Phosphorus Impacts With Manure Management

**Focus Area: Reducing Phosphorus Impacts With Manure Management**

- Programs that use research-based information to assist farmers in making the transition to new nutrient management plans

**Goals**:
- To refine the Phosphorus Index for New England
- To develop improved nutrient management planning tools
- To educate agricultural consultants on the newest research-based information

**Audience**: Agricultural service providers, farmers, New England Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (NESAWG), and food system organizations such as Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs)

## Partner Organizations Include:
EPA
USDA NRCS
Farm Services Agency
American Agronomy Society
U.S. Geological Survey
State environmental and agricultural agencies

**Focus Area: Reducing Phosphorus Impacts With Manure Management**

**Partner Organizations Include:**
- EPA
- USDA NRCS
- Farm Services Agency
- American Agronomy Society
- U.S. Geological Survey
- State environmental and agricultural agencies

**Example**** Program**:
**In-Service Training for Agricultural Service Providers**
**Outreach Method**: Regional collaborative workshop
**Audience**: Agricultural service providers

**Topics**:
- Certified Crop Advisor recertification
- Reducing phosphorus impacts on dairy and livestock farms

## Focus Area: River and Stream Restoration

**Focus Area: River and Stream Restoration**

- An integrated program with a strong commitment to research and development, sustained outreach, training and technical assistance, and expanded graduate and undergraduate education

**Goals**:
- Conduct practical, “on demand” case studies in river and stream restoration
- To provide training for river management professionals and future scientists in habitat modeling
- To provide research-based technical services to resource managers and conservationists to allow for more sustainable use of water resources

**Audience**:  State and federal resource agencies, the general public, and researchers of watershed-related issues

## Partner Organizations Include:
EPA
U.S. Geological Survey
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

**Focus Area: River and Stream Restoration**

**Partner Organizations Include:**
- EPA
- U.S. Geological Survey
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

**Example**** Program**:
**Northeast Instream Habitat Program**
- (University of Massachusetts)
**Outreach Method**: Educational workshops
**Audience**: Resource managers and conservationists

**Topics**:
- Flow monitoring
- River and stream restoration
- Using the MesoHabSim habitat modeling system for river restoration modeling and evaluation

## Focus Area: Sustainable Landscaping

**Focus Area: Sustainable Landscaping**

- Programs that promote "smart" landscaping techniques to enhance and protect water quality by reducing surface runoff, minimize leaching of agrichemicals, and reducing nutrient contamination to water resources

**Goals**:
- Educate and encourage landowners to implement best management practices (BMPs) that:
- Minimize inputs to the residential ecosystem, and
- Maximize the retention and transformation of pollutants within the ecosystem

**Audience**:  Homeowners, town officials, landscape management service providers, wastewater professionals, and environmental organizations

## Partner Organizations Include:
EPA
National Integrated Water Quality Program (NIWQP)
Foundations and NGOs
Municipal, regional, state and federal governments

**Focus Area: Sustainable Landscaping**

**Partner Organizations Include:**
- EPA
- National Integrated Water Quality Program (NIWQP)
- Foundations and NGOs
- Municipal, regional, state and federal governments

**Example**** Program**:
**Watershed Stewards Program**
- (UMaine Cooperative Extension)
**Outreach Method**: Water quality educational training sessions
**Audience**:  Maine residents

**Topics**:
- Water quality monitoring
- Safe Home gardening
- Habitat and environmental restoration
- Public water supplies

## Focus Area: Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring

**Focus Area: Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring**

**Goals**:
- To improve the quality and reliability of volunteer monitoring data
- To develop and refine volunteer monitoring training guides and workshops
- To improve the accessibility of data for public and decision maker use

**Audience**:  Active and potential volunteers, members of the shellfishing industry, local officials, local watershed organizations, and local chapters of national organizations such as Trout Unlimited

- Well-established volunteer monitoring programs that address a variety of local water quality concerns

## Partner Organizations Include:
EPA
USGS
Local communities 
Nonprofits 
Public and private schools
Native American communities 
State agencies 
University Sea Grant programs 

**Focus Area: Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring**

**Partner Organizations Include:**
- EPA
- USGS
- Local communities
- Nonprofits
- Public and private schools
- Native American communities
- State agencies
- University Sea Grant programs

**Example Program**:
**New Hampshire Lakes Lay **
**Monitoring Program**
- (University of New Hampshire)
**Outreach Methods**: Training workshops, hands-on learning through volunteer monitoring
**Audience**:  citizens, stakeholders in lake management

**Topics**:
- Monitoring water quality parameters such as chlorophyll-*a*, dissolved oxygen and total phosphorus
- Statistical analysis of long-term trends in water quality