Publications
View and download our publications online. Your convenient one-stop shopping destination for the dispensing of NEMOid wisdom in its many splendid forms.
- Highlighted Publications
- Reviews & Articles
- Hard Copies
- Videos
- Related Materials
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Rain Gardens in Connecticut: A Design Guide for Homeowners
Interested in installing a rain garden at your home? We’re here to help! This publication provides simple yet detailed information on how to construct a rain garden at your own home. Note: the publication is 6.7 MB. Learn more about rain gardens and rain garden worskhops we offer. |
Developing a Sustainable Community
This publication helps guide Connecticut Communities in crafting plans and regulations that protect water quality. |
About Buildouts
This booklet goes over buildout basics, including the limitations, data needs and educational uses of this planning tool. The publication is based on a study conducted in 2006-2007 by CLEAR in collaboration with Central Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments. |
Although it pains us to say it, people and organizations other than NEMO do, on occasion, produce things of value. We have provided, below, a list of reading materials that come highly recommended by the NEMO Team. If you leave our cozy confines to order other reading materials, remember to tell them NEMO sent you!
Articles
Bibliographies
Books
Editorials
Press Releases
Reports
Articles
This section of the Reviews contains links to articles of, about or pertaining to NEMO, currently posted on the web. The subject matter alone puts us in mind to highly recommend them, and some of them we wrote ourselves. 10/02 - Urban Sprawl: the Big Picture
Written by Patrick L. Barry; Written for Science @ NASA. Earth-orbiting satellites are collecting valuable data that reveal the environmental impact of fast-growing cities.7/02 - Internet Mapping Helps Local Communities
Written by By Yongjun Lei, Emily Wilson, Jeff Bolton, Daniel Civco and Sandy Prisloe; Published in Earth Observation E-Magazine. An article by our NAUTILUS team on high-tech interactive map serving and other tools developed as part of that project.5/02 - Project Spotlight: Changing Land Use Decision Making One Town at a Time: The NEMO Project at the Ten Year Mark
Written by Laurie Giannotti, Connecticut NEMO Coordinator, and Chet Arnold, Co-Director, NEMO Project; Published in NWQEP Notes, the NCSU Water Quality Group E-Newsletter.4/02 - Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO): Successful Connecticut Project Used as Model Nationwide
Published in EPA's Section 319 Success Stories, Vol. III E-News.10/29/01 - NEMO Provides Technical Assistance to Local Officials
Written by James Davenport, Research Associate; Published in the County Environmental Reporter.8/01 - This Land Is Your Land
Written by Tod Newcombe; Published in Government Technology E-News. With the help of the Internet and GIS, local officials are learning how to control land use for future generations.3/01 - New Tools for Communities are Needed if NPS Regulation is to Succeed
Written by Chester L. Arnold, Co-Director, University of Connecticut NEMO Program and Tom Schueler, Director, Center for Watershed Protection, Written for EPA NPS News-Notes.2/01 - NEMO Program Provides Tech Assistance
National Association of Counties (NACO) County News Online 33(4).2/01 - Educating Local Land Use Decision Makers to Improve Water Quality in Connecticut
January/February 2001 issue. Coastal Services magazine, published by the NOAA Coastal Services Center.12/00 - Land Use Is the Issue, But Is Land Grant the Answer?
Written by Chet Arnold, Co-Director, University of Connecticut NEMO Program; Journal of Extension 38(6).2000 - Sprawl: What Can We Do About It in Connecticut? ( PDF 158K) Written by Christopher J. Smith of the law firm of Pullman and Comley, this article appeared in the October/November issue of the American Planning Association/CT Chapter newsletter.
Back to Top Bibliographies
2002 - Open Space Planning Bibliography - (PDF 26K) Compiled by John Rozum, CT NEMO Director
2000 - The Remedial Bibliography for Land Use Planning - (PDF 39K) Compiled by John Rozum, CT NEMO Director (o.k., so we snuck a NEMO generated pub, or two, in here).
2000 - Selected NEMO References - (PDF 47K) Compiled by NEMO Co-founder Jim Gibbons.
Back to Top Books
2000 - The Practice of Watershed Protection. Written by Tom Schueler and Heather Holland. This book is a very complete compendium of material from a NEMO partner, the Center for Watershed Protection, drawn mostly from past issues of their great journal Watershed Protection Techniques. Order from the Center for Watershed Protection website.
Back to Top Editorials
2004 - Where Should Growth Occur? National NEMO Soap Box Editorial #1 (PDF 28K)
Written by John S. Jacob, Director, Texas Coastal Watershed Program, our Texas NEMO affiliate.The debate over the primacy of the central city versus the suburbs has been around some time, but it is at the heart of the debate about what our cities and regions will look like in the future. Where is most of our future growth going to occur? Does it make a difference where it occurs, and could we do anything about changing where it occurs if we wanted to?
Back to Top Press Releases
March 22, 2004 - The Hartford Courant, Editorial
Maps Tell Sprawl Story (PDF 27KB)March 21, 2004 - The Hartford Courant, Commentary by Chester Arnold
Sprawl: A Birds-eye View (PDF 27KB)January 4, 2004 - The Hartford Courant, Article By Mike Swift
Satellite Pinpoints State's Sprawl- New Computer Maps Show Loss Of Land In Every Town To Development Over Decades (PDF 33KB)April 22, 2002 - Land Use/Water Quality Program Draws Audience Of 45 - Published in the Groton Open Space Association's E-News
Back to Top Reports
6/04 - NEMO Highlighted in the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy's Preliminary Report
ABSTRACT
"Released by the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy on April 20, 2004, this document presents the Commission’s preliminary findings and recommendations for a new, coordinated, and comprehensive national ocean policy. Mandated by the Oceans Act of 2000, the Preliminary Report is now available for review and comment by the nation’s Governors and interested stakeholders." NEMO is highlighted in Section V, chapter 14: Addressing Coastal Water Pollution, page 170.Visit the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy website. full report.
2/03 - Implementing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Mandate to Engage Coastal Users: Opportunities for National Sea Grant Outreach Growth
Report of the Sea Grant Outreach Growth Committee, National Sea Grant College Program, February 2003.
In response to one of the suggestions in the Byrne Report, A Mandate to Engage Coastal Users, the Assembly of Sea Grant Extension Leaders established a Growth Committee in March 2002, subsequently joined by Sea Grant’s National Communications Network and the Sea Grant Educators Network. This committee was charged with critically looking at opportunities to develop or expand Sea Grant outreach. The committee selected seven issues from among the many currently facing coastal America. This list included "sustainable coastal communities," and the subsequent discussion calls for support of state-based NEMO programs, among other related items.
8/02- Paving Our Way to Shortages: How Sprawl Aggravates Drought
A Report by American Rivers, Natural Resources Defense Council, Smart Growth America.ABSTRACT
Over the past decade, Americans from coast to coast have been suffering through one of the worst droughts in decades. Many blame erratic weather conditions for water shortages, while others point to population growth. But that's not the whole story. Another major contributor to our water problems is the way we develop land. As we pave over more and more wetlands and forests, this new report shows that we are depleting our water supplies. It's not only the arid West that is facing critical shortages. The rapidly suburbanizing Southeast, blessed with a seemingly inexhaustible water supply, is now in serious trouble, as are many other formerly water-rich regions of the country.10/01 - Environmental Protection: Federal Incentives Could Help Promote Land Use That Protects Air and Water Quality.
ABSTRACT
Americans have become increasingly concerned about the downside of growth and development--increasing dependence on automobiles; worsening traffic congestion; and the loss of farmland, forests, and open space. Some are also concerned that "urban sprawl" can increase air and water pollution, endanger their health, and even threaten their livelihood. Most local transportation planners and state air quality managers do not consider the effects of different land use strategies on air quality. They do not do so principally because nonpoint sources are diffuse and difficult to identify and measure. According to local transportation planners and state air quality managers, federal agencies could help remove barriers to, and provide incentives for, assessing and mitigating the environmental impacts of land use. They proposed actions in the following three key areas: (1) financial incentives for transportation, environmental, and local decision makers to collaborate on land use strategies that limit adverse impacts on air and water quality; (2) technical capacity to assess and mitigate land use impacts; and (3) educating the public and local officials about the environmental impacts of their transportation and land use decisions and alternative development strategies that better protect air and water quality.4/02 - Coastal Sprawl: The Effects of Urban Design on Aquatic Ecosystems in the United States
Pew Oceans Commission
ABSTRACT
With more than half the nation living along the coast, changes are needed to preserve aquatic habitats. In his report for the independent Pew Oceans Commission, Dana Beach of the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League details the effects of urban design and land-use practices on aquatic ecosystems in the United States. Beach presents new strategies and tools that communities may use to preserve the same ecosystems that attract residents, tourists, and businesses to the coasts.Back to Top
There are a few NEMO publications and videos that are both offered as electronic format and as a hard copy. Below are the publications offered in hard copy, and videos, that can be ordered free of charge (minus some DVDs). Please contact Kara Bonsack at 860-345-5227 or email kara.bonsack@uconn.edu.
NEMO Educational Video: "Luck Isn't Enough: The Fight For Clean Water."Winner of an international film industry award for creative excellence. 1995. A 13-minute professionally produced video for the general public on non-point source pollution—its causes, effects and what individuals and communities can do to combat it. There are limited copies of this video available in DVD format. Please use the order form in the "Request Hard Copies" tab to order the DVD or email kara.bonsack@uconn.edu. $10.00 per copy (an invoice will be sent to the mailing address you provide, unless otherwise noted. Includes shipping.)
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| Link to NEMO related videos on the YouTube website |
| Visit the CT NEMO's YouTube Website |
| Visit the National NEMO Network's YouTube Website |
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Putting Communities in Charge. 2005. Our first publication dedicated to the work of the NEMO program in Connecticut. This report describes the origin, objectives and progress of the NEMO program. This report was the winner of a national award. View Report (11 MB) |
| VIEW PUBLICATION | Remote-Sensing-Enhanced Outreach Education as a Decision Support System for Local Land Use Officials 2000. Reprint from Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing (PE&RS ) journal, an issue devoted to "decision support systems." Reviews NEMO, our Connecticut River Watershed Projects, and NAUTILUS from the perspective of both the role and utility of remote sensing-derived data and GIS applications for education. (PDF - 181K) |
| VIEW PUBLICATION | Putting Geospatial Information into the Hands of the "Real" Natural Resource Managers: Lessons from the NEMO Project in Educating Local Land Use Officials 1999. This paper from the 1999 Proceedings of the American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing Annual Meeting provides an up-to-date overview and history of NEMO, with an emphasis on the use of technology for education. 8 pages long and complete with color graphics, it's not as technical or as long as the reprint. (.doc - 733K) |
| VIEW PUBLICATION | "The Use of Geographic Information System Images as a Tool to Educate Local Officials About the Land Use/Water Quality Connection." 1993. Written by the NEMO team principals. Reprinted from the Proceedings of the Watershed '93 Conference, held in Alexandria VA, March 1993. A good description of how the project got started and is organized, and our early conclusions. Mostly of historical value at this point. (PDF - 38K) |
Technical papers address a narrow topic for a specific audience, and tend to be longer in length than the fact sheets.
| VIEW PUBLICATION | #1: Addressing Imperviousness in Plans, Site Design and Land Use Regulations. 1998. Written by land use planner and NEMO Co-Director Jim Gibbons for professional planners and land use commissioners, this paper contains detailed suggestions about how to cope with impervious surfaces and stormwater runoff in comprehensive plans, zoning and subdivision regulations and local ordinances. It's Connecticut-specific, but much of it will be useful in other parts of the country. (PDF - 59K) |
| No longer available | #2: Alternatives to Pavement. This technical paper has evolved many times since its creation. It is currently the Planning for Stormwater section of the NEMO website. Visit Planning for Stormwater for all you ever wanted to know about reducing impervious surface, and more! |
| VIEW PUBLICATION | #3. Methods for Measuring and Estimating Impervious Surface Coverage. Critically reviews a range of methods for getting a handle on impervious coverage, ranging from remote sensing to photogrammetry to rulers and tape measures. (PDF - 41K) |
| VIEW PUBLICATION | #4: Do It Yourself! Zoning-Based Impervious Surface Buildout Analysis. 1998. The details of the original NEMO buildout analysis. For details on our most recent work in this area. (PDF - 38K) |
| VIEW PUBLICATION | #5: Parking Lots. 1999. The first in a series of papers detailing key planning and design considerations for each major impervious element of the modern landscape. (The rest of the series appears below.) (PDF - 41K) |
| VIEW PUBLICATION | #6: Driveways. 1999. The second in a series of papers detailing key planning and design considerations for each major impervious element of the modern landscape. (PDF - 27K) |
| VIEW PUBLICATION | #7: Sidewalks. 1999. The third in a series of papers detailing key planning and design considerations for each major impervious element of the modern landscape. (PDF - 53K) |
| VIEW PUBLICATION | #8: Pavements & Surface Materials. 1999 The fourth in a series of papers detailing key planning and design considerations for each major impervious element of the modern landscape. (PDF - 50K) |
| VIEW PUBLICATION | #9: Roads. 1999. The fifth in a series of papers detailing key planning and design considerations for each major impervious element of the modern landscape. (PDF - 26K) |
| Impervious Surface: The Emergence of a Key Environmental Indicator. 1996. An article by NEMO principals from the Journal of the American Planning Association. Reviews relationship of impervious surfaces to water resource health, and discusses community planning, site planning and regulatory uses of this key indicator. 16 pages, if you're feeling up to it! |
| Hard Copy Only | Natural
Resource-Based Planning for Watersheds: A Practical Starter
Kit. 2001.
A 27-page
booklet that simply goes over NEMO's approach to
watersheds. Intended to serve as a guide for those wishing
to adapt NEMO's methods to their own watersheds. We have found
that the two major stumbling blocks to local watershed efforts
are an inability to get started, and an overload of maps/information.
This starter kit is our way of overcoming these twin frustrations,
illustrated with examples from our work in the Eightmile River
Watershed Project. $5.00
per copy (an invoice will be sent to the mailing
address you provide, unless otherwise noted. Includes shipping.) |
| VIEW PUBLICATION | The Eightmile River Watershed: Heart of a Last Great Place. 1997. (Out of print, available in electronic format only.) Developed for use by the local Watershed Advisory Committee of our Eightmile River Watershed Project. It stresses the connections between watershed protection, community character, cultural heritage and economic growth. Very specific to the Eightmile, but we offer it here to folks who may be looking for an example of a watershed project "promotional" piece (PDF - 791K) |
| VIEW PUBLICATION | Consider the Source. 1997. (Out of print, available in electronic format only.)This booklet, prepared by our UConn CES Forestry collaborators, targets private owners of forest land in the Eightmile River Watershed area. The booklet goes over watershed-specific information on forest lands of the area, and lists resources and strategies for forest owners to preserve the forest resource while enhancing their property. (PDF - 832K) |
| VIEW PUBLICATION | Chester Creek Watershed Report. 1996. (Out of print, available in electronic format only.) Report on the first of our watershed projects in the Connecticut River valley. Describes the development of the project, the educational methods supported by GIS technology and future prospects. (PDF - 753K) |
| VIEW PUBLICATION | Open Space Planning Packet. 1998. What exactly is open space? How do you identify it, characterize it, prioritize it, acquire it and fund it? This group of fact sheets answers these questions, and more! |






