Past land use activities (or land use “legacies”) can be strong indicators of contemporary water quality; yet watershed management strategies often neglect the lag times associated with land change trajectories. In this seminar, I will describe types of land use legacies in New England, present some evidence for the effects of land use legacies on water quality, and summarize upcoming research focused understanding on how land use history and intensity may influence water quality (with a focus on nitrogen) in streams and rivers of the Long Island Sound (LIS) watershed.