Applied Science Grants

 

The objective of the Applied Science Grants is to improve access to and use of hydrologic data as well as to develop and improve water management tools and improve modeling and forecasting capabilities. Results from these projects will be used by water managers to increase water supply reliability, provide flexibility in water operations, improve water management, and support nature-based solutions.

Active 15.557 Bureau of Reclamation, Department of The Interior B - Project Grants Fiscal Year 2016 Information not available. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 and 2014, Applied Science Grants for the Desert and Southern Rockies LCCs combined more than $2.1 million in Federal funding to enhance the management of natural and cultural resources that have a nexus to water resource management. For example, once completed, the funded projects are expected to develop decision support tools and methodologies to incorporate ecological flows into water management models used for basin-wide water supply planning; develop new biological information about springs and seeps; and develop a web-based tool to facilitate conservation planning. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 and 2016, the LCCs did not post an Announcement for financial assistance. Instead, the LCCs worked on building their technical capacity to assist their partners. For example, the Desert LCC invested in data and website platform development to more efficiently communicate data and research to resource managers.
Fiscal Year 2017 Information not available.
Fiscal Year 2019 In Fiscal Year (FY) 2017, Applied Science Grants were used to develop tools and information to support water resources managers in the West. Seven projects were selected for funding, including projects to improve access to water availability information through the development of web-based decision support tools, a project to improve the management of springs and related ecosystems, and a project to model drought conditions on Lake Mead to inform water treatment processes. In FY 2019, $3.5 million in Federal funding was used to fund 19 Applied Science Grant projects. These projects totaled over $8 million in applied science projects.
Fiscal Year 2020 $3.5 million in Federal funding was used to fund 19 Applied Science Grant projects. These projects totaled over $8 million in applied science projects.
Fiscal Year 2021 Reclamation announced the 20 entities were selected to receive grant funding for Applied Science Projects.
Fiscal Year 2022 Reclamation identified eight projects for a total of $1.2 million in applied science projects that will develop tools and information to support water management. The projects selected include the development of modeling and forecasting tools, hydrologic data platforms and new data sets to inform decision-making. Public Law 111-11, Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, Subtitle F, Secure Water, Section 9509 and 9504(b)
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Public Law 117-58 Category A Applicants: States, Indian tribes, irrigation districts, water districts, or other organizations with water or power delivery authority. Category B Applicants: Nonprofit conservation organizations that are acting in partnership and with the agreement of an entity described above. Category A applicants: States, Indian tribes, irrigation districts, water districts, or other organizations with water or power delivery authority located in the Western United States or United States Territories including Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands. Category B applicants: Universities, nonprofit research institutions, federally-funded research and development centers, and non-profit entities including 501[c][3]. Category B applicants must be located in the United States or American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, or the Virgin Islands. These applicants must include at least one Category A entity meeting eligibility requirements as documented by a letter with the application stating the partner commits to participate and supports the project need. The general public, agricultural, municipal and industrial water users; irrigation or water districts; and state governmental entities with water or power delivery authority, located in the states identified in the Act of June 17, 1902. Not applicable. Preapplication coordination is required. Preapplication coordination is not required. However, it is recommended that applicants contact the headquarters point of contact for this listing to discuss their project prior to applying. In addition, all projects that receive Federal funding must comply with all Federal environmental and cultural resource laws. 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards applies to this program. Notice of Funding Opportunities for this program are posted on www.grants.gov. Proposals received in response to the Announcement are reviewed through a competitive, merit-based review process, and are rated in accordance with the evaluation criteria stated in the funding opportunity. Reclamation will make awards to the highest rated proposals based on the amount of funding available each year. Deadlines are identified in the Notice of Funding Opportunity and vary from year to year. See Reclamation's WaterSMART website, https://www.usbr.gov/watersmart/, for additional schedule information. Not applicable. Not applicable. Criteria varies by funding category. See https://www.usbr.gov/watersmart/ Through Applied Science Grants, Reclamation provides cost-shared financial assistance on a competitive basis for projects to develop tools and information for: (1) assessing water availability and quality, (2) assessing risks to water supplies from drought and other water management challenges (e.g., invasive species, sedimentation, managing to meet competing water demands, meeting endangered species requirements, etc.) , and (3) assessing and evaluating watershed management practices. Eligible projects must be located in the 17 Western States or Territories (see below for eligibility). Performance Reports: Unless otherwise stated in the agreement document, recipients shall submit Program Performance Reports, on a semi-annual basis. Upon completion of the agreement, recipients shall submit a final Program Performance Report. Not applicable. All recipients of Federal awards shall maintain project records in accordance with 2 CFR 200.333 Retention requirements for records. Financial records, supporting documents, statistical records, and all other non-Federal entity records pertinent to a Federal award must be retained for a period of three years from the date of submission of the final expenditure report or, for Federal awards that are renewed quarterly or annually, from the date of the submission of the quarterly or annual financial report, respectively, as reported to the Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity in the case of a subrecipient. Federal awarding agencies and pass-through entities must not impose any other record retention requirements upon non-Federal entities, except as noted in 2 CFR 200.333. Statutory formula is not applicable to this assistance listing.

Matching is mandatory. 50%. The Federal share of the cost of a project or activity carried out under this Program shall not exceed 50% of the total cost of the project or activity, or 75% for projects with ecological benefits. Costs of operation, maintenance, repair and rehabilitation of facilities funded under the authority for this Program shall be nonfederal responsibilities.

MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. Proposed projects should be completed within 24 months from the project start date. Method of awarding/releasing assistance: Payment terms vary by agreement awarded under this program. Payment terms vary by agreement awarded under this program. http://www.usbr.gov/main/regions.html Avra Morgan
Bureau of Reclamation, Water Resources and Planning Office, Mail Code: 86-69200, P.O. Box 25007
Denver, CO 80225 US
aomorgan@usbr.gov
Phone: (303)445-2906
Fax: (720)544-4207 http://www.usbr.gov/WaterSMART/lcc/index.html 14-0680-0-1-301 (Cooperative Agreements (Discretionary Grants)) FY 22$1,200,000.00; FY 23 est $4,000,000.00; FY 24 est $4,000,000.00; FY 21$3,100,000.00; FY 20$3,500,000.00; FY 19$2,000,000.00; FY 18$700,000.00; FY 17 est $700,000.00; FY 16$15,649.00; - Appropriations(Cooperative Agreements (Discretionary Grants)) FY 22$0.00; FY 23 est $1,000,000.00; FY 24 est $1,000,000.00; - Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Funding Range: $55,000 - $400,000 Average: $160,000 2 CFR 200 UNIFORM ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS, COST PRINCIPLES, AND AUDIT REQUIREMENTS FOR FEDERAL AWARDS and the applicable OMB Circulars. These documents may also be obtained by contacting the Bureau of Reclamation Office listed below. http://www.usbr.gov/WaterSMART/lcc/index.html Fiscal Year 2016 Information not available. Examples of projects funded in FY 2014 include: (Note: the last announcement for the LCCs was made in FY 2014, which is why these examples date back to 2013 and 2014. New examples will be provided after FY 2017 projects are selected). Desert LCC: The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) will use modeling tools and data from the 2014 Minute 319 pulse flow to develop an integrated system that will assist with future pulse flow release experimental determinations. The Minute 319 pulse flow is a temporary release of water to mimic natural spring floods in the Colorado River Delta to study how best to restore native riparian habitat. The new system will integrate data and models such as environmental conditions and designed pulse flow releases with targeted environmental variables to predict the environmental reaction to future pulse flow releases, thereby supporting adaptive management and planning in the future. By linking data and models together into an integrated system, EDF intends to reduce the time required to analyze scenarios and to provide data that would help guide the pulse flow design. Southern Rockies LCCs: The Museum of Northern Arizona will leverage tools previously developed through its Springs Stewardship Initiative to help resource managers in the southwestern U.S. collect, analyze, report upon, monitor and archive the complex and inter-related information associated with springs and spring-dependent species in the region. Building upon those past efforts, the project will include compilation of existing springs-related information to make the information more readily available online and further development of interactive online maps and climate change risk assessment tools of springs-dependent sensitive plant and animal species. This project builds on an effort funded in FY 2013 to complete similar work for the Desert LCC.
Fiscal Year 2017 Information not available.
Fiscal Year 2019 Utah State University, Drought Synthesis to Inform Drought Resiliency Planning Reclamation: $99,998 Total Project Cost: $199,995. Utah State University, in collaboration with the Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District, the Provo River Water Users Association, the Weber Basin Water Conservancy District, and the Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities will synthesize drought characteristics to inform drought resiliency decisions. The project includes a synthesis of key water cycle processes of snowpack, streamflow, evapotranspiration, and soil moisture in the Wasatch Range that will enhance the decadal prediction of drought for water users dependent on Wastach Range watersheds. The project will create a synthesized drought information platform available through the Utah Climate Center webpage and, to reach broader audiences, will also be hosted on the National Integrated Drought Information System and the Western Water Assessment Dashboard. Southern Nevada Water Authority, Modeling of Drought Conditions in Lake Mead to inform future Drinking Water Treatment Process Needs, Habitat Conditions for Critical Species, and LCR Water Quality Reclamation: $88,599 Total Project Cost: $224,814. The Southern Nevada Water Authority, located in Las Vegas, Nevada, will perform water quality modeling to assess how changes in lake elevations due to drought affect critical water quality parameters, and to determine if and when water treatment plant modifications may be required. SNWA will conduct three-dimensional water quality modeling, and model output will then be incorporated into a new simulation model of SNWA's drinking water treatment processes. The project will address gaps in knowledge regarding the effects of drought on lake and reservoir water quality, including impacts to water temperature, turbidity, and algal growth. The modeling will inform future planning efforts for treatment plant upgrades and expansions, as well as planning efforts related to aquatic species, including endangered Razorback Suckers and Humpback Chub.
Fiscal Year 2020 The Henry's Fork Foundation, Inc., Predictive Hydrologic Modeling and Real-Time Data Access to Support Water Resources Management Planning Reclamation: $273,211 Total Project Cost: $561,282. The Henry’s Fork Foundation will partner with the Fremont-Madison Irrigation District to develop hydrologic models and a web-based platform to improve access to hydrologic information within the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River watershed, located in eastern Idaho and western Wyoming. In addition to competing water demands for irrigation and fisheries, new concerns about declining aquifer levels in the Eastern Snake Plains Aquifer have added to water management challenges in this watershed. This project builds on a WaterSMART basin study completed in 2015, identifying unmet water needs in the basin that total 350,000 acre-feet per year in dry years, based on the most recent calculations. This project will provide modeling tools and hydrologic data to enhance water management efforts to address the projected shortfalls, including demand-reduction, water marketing, and increasing reservoir carryover. // Texas Water Trade, Modeling Aquifer Properties in the Contributing Zone of Comanche Springs Reclamation Funding: $150,000 Total Project Cost: $300,000 The Texas Water Trade, in partnership with the Middle Pecos Groundwater Conservation District, located in Fort Stockton, Texas will develop a groundwater flow model to increase the District’s understanding of the impacts of seasonal groundwater pumping in the Edwards-Trinity Aquifer to spring flows at Comanche Springs in the City of Fort Stockton. This area has experienced conflicts and litigation between surface and groundwater users since the 1950’s. Currently, rising demand for water for oil and gas extraction activities and demands from nearby municipalities are adding to these tensions. The District is evaluating the potential for restoration of perennial spring flows at Comanche Springs, exploring pumping in deeper zones in the Edwards aquifer, and developing a water marketing strategy to meet competing demands. This project will provide the District with critical information to further develop these strategies and to make water management decisions that optimize available water resources.
Fiscal Year 2021 The Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District in Arizona will develop a real time reservoir operations model for the Salt and Verde rivers. The model will be used to predict changes to lake levels based on a continuous runoff simulation, enhancing the Salt River Project’s ability to analyze and react to forecasted hydrological events in the watersheds that impact operations and infrastructure. The model will forecast streamflow at specified locations that directly impact reservoir operations, informing operations decisions and facilitating early responses to flooding caused by storm events or landscape changes created by wildfire. The Salt River Project is carrying out the project with the support of the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association and the cities of Tempe, Chandler, and Scottsdale.
Fiscal Year 2022 For descriptions of previously funded projects, please visit our website at: https://www.usbr.gov/watersmart/index.html.