Finding NEMO in a Watershed Near You

By Joe Farrell, Delaware NEMO Coordinator

NEMO has been around since 1991 when educators at the University of Connecticut developed a pilot education program for local land use decision makers that made the link between land use and water quality.  Now, NEMO will be making its splash in Delaware in the coming months.

NEMO is Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials, emphasizing educating local decision makers, serving on county or municipal boards, commissions, and councils about non point source pollution (polluted runoff) and how the land use decisions they make affect water quality.  NEMO is first and foremost an educational program, targeted specifically at local land use decision makers. 

NEMO's goal is to give these key people the knowledge and understanding that allows them to make better decisions about development, while minimizing the impact on water and other natural resources.  Its message, delivered through presentations, publications, web based products, and other tools, is that good planning is the key to charting a community’s future course.  Such planning considers a community's character, unique features, and natural resources.  The message is broader than simply educating officials about non point source pollution.   It's about planning what to preserve and where and how to develop.

NEMO has been well received in other parts of the country, in part because it relies on tried and true methods of university based extension education — sharing research based information, using effective outreach education methods, and bringing programs to the forum where local land use decisions are made...in town halls and city council chambers.  The program often makes strong use of tools such as remote sensing data and Geographic Information System (GIS) maps to present information in a visual, engaging and holistic manner.

In Delaware, NEMO got up and running this past fall.  A Delaware NEMO Steering Committee was formed with representation from Delaware's counties, cities and towns, with support from:

University of Delaware
Sea Grant
Cooperative Extension
Water Resource Agency
Institute for Public Administration
Delaware Water Resource Center
Delaware Office of State Planning Coordination
Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC)
Office of the Secretary
Delaware Coastal Programs
Watershed Assessment
Sediment and Stormwater
Nonpoint Source Program
Center for Inland Bays
Appoquinimink Tributary Action Team

The first Delaware NEMO presentation — Riparian Buffers 101 — was given to Sussex County Council as they grappled with developing an ordinance on buffers in support of the county’s Comprehensive Plan.  The NEMO Steering Committee is in the process of developing a What is NEMO presentation geared to local government to explain what NEMO is and how they might be able to assist municipalities consider natural resources in their planning process.  They will also develop a Manual on Best Practices for Natural Resource Based Planning, a web site, and other presentations over the coming year.

The NEMO Committee welcome invitations by local governments, Tributary Action Teams, other watershed groups, and civic associations to learn more about Delaware NEMO and how their team of environmental scientists, planners, and educators can provide assistance in your community or watershed.  For further information, please contact Joe Farrell, Delaware NEMO Coordinator at (302) 645-4250 or jfarrell@Udel.Edu.