About the New England Regional Water Quality Program

The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) Water Quality Program, was authorized under section 406 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 for an Integrated Research, Education, and Extension Competitive Grants Program. This program provides the flexibility necessary for CSREES to bring the resources of researchers, instructors, and extension educators to national initiatives and programmatic partnerships that target evolving water quality needs.

The goal of the New England Regional Water Program is to improve water quality management through educational knowledge and extension programming that emerges from a research base. Extension programs have a unique role in the Region that complement our partners' efforts. We use state of the art approaches to tailor our programs to the unique attributes of a given watershed and the concerns of communities and producers.

The New England Regional Water Program focuses on the following areas:

Agricultural Nutrient and Pest Management (Field and farmstead scale; relates to Nutrient and Pesticide Management National Theme)
Animal Waste Management (Field and farmstead scale; relates to Nutrient and Pesticide Management National Theme) \
New England Private Well Initiative (Household scale; relates to Drinking Water/Human Health & Pollution Assessment/Prevention National Themes)
New England NEMO (Community and watershed scale; relates to Watershed Management National Theme)
River and Stream Restoration (Ecosystem scale; relates to Environmental Restoration National Theme)
Sustainable Landscaping (Household scale; relates to Drinking Water/Human Health & Pollution Assessment/Prevention National Themes)
Volunteer Water Quality Monitoring (Ecosystem scale; relates to Watershed Management National Theme)

View the following publications for a summary of activities and impacts of the on the New England Regional Program:

Regional Review Document - Building on Expertise: A Collaborative Spirit Empowers Water Programs in New England (high resolution 37MB or low resolution 8MB)
2006 New England Regional Water Program Impact Report
New England Regional Water Program Posters for a summary program

Programs are targeted and implemented in place-based priorities within our region. Each of Extension's focus areas has a proven track record of accomplishments and provides leadership in water quality education that serves a specific target audience. Our approach and coordinating structure are flexible to permit the New England Program to respond to emerging priorities within the region.

Regional coordination in New England is by a steering committee of representatives from each state and each focus area. Monthly conference calls and face-to-face meetings facilitate regional coordination discussions.

In addition to the steering committee, the New England Regional Water Program is also guided with the help of an advisory committee. The purpose of the advisory committee is to provide input on an ad hoc basis on New England programs that relate to their specific expertise.

Visit the About this Website page for more information.

This material is based upon work supported in part by the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Agreement No. 2004-51130-03108. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The URI Agricultural Experiment Station provides funding for a Graduate Research Assistant to work on this website.

The USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Partners in this Regional Program are also equal opportunity providers and employers.