The National NEMO Network-Linking Land Use to Water Quality along Coastal Georgia Watersheds

Proceedings of the 2003 Georgia Water Resources Conference, held April 23-24, 2003, at the University of Georgia.On July 17, 2002, the Coastal Georgia Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO) Program at the University of Georgia Marine Extension Service (MAREX) received its Network Charter from the National NEMO Network. The National NEMO Network is a confederation of programs that educate local land use decision makers about the relationship of land use to natural resource protection. The original NEMO program was created in 1991 at the University of Connecticut as a partnership between the Cooperative Extension System, the Connecticut Sea Grant College Program and the Natural Resources Management and Engineering Department. MAREX originally joined the National NEMO Network in October 2000 through joint efforts by MAREX, the Georgia Sea Grant College Program, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and the National NEMO coordinators at the University of Connecticut’s Cooperative Extension System. At that time, 15 NEMO programs existed. The Coastal Georgia NEMO Program is a charter member of a national program that has doubled in 2-1/2 years. Today, the program boasts 30 programs in 29 states and territories. The National Network allows for the local transfer of information and innovative methods to benefit the people who will actually make the difference in land use options