WaterSMART (Sustain and Manage America’s Resources for Tomorrow)

 

To make funding available for eligible applicants to leverage their money and resources by cost sharing with Reclamation on different types of projects: 1) projects that save water; increase the use of renewable energy; and accomplish other sustainability benefits; 2) small-scale water efficiency projects that have been identified through previous planning efforts; 3) collaborative planning and design projects to support water management improvements; and 4) collaboratively developed restoration projects, nature based solutions, water conservation projects, and infrastructure improvement projects with significant ecological benefits.

Active 15.507 Bureau of Reclamation, Department of The Interior B - Project Grants Fiscal Year 2017 Information not available. In FY 2017, $27.5million in Federal funding was used to fund 121 WaterSMART Grant projects. These projects total over $115.7million in improvements (i.e., Federal and non-Federal cost-share).
Fiscal Year 2019 In FY 2018, $34 million in Federal Funding was used to fund 120 WaterSMART Grant projects. These projects total over $178.7 million in improvements (i.e., Federal and non-federal cost-share). In FY 2019, $34 million in Federal Funding was used to fund 118 WaterSMART Grant projects. These projects total over $143.1 million in improvements (i.e., Federal and non-federal cost-share.
Fiscal Year 2020 $55 million in Federal funding was used to fund 105 WaterSMART Grants projects. These projects total over $154.9 million in improvements (i.e. Federal and non-Federal cost-share.)
Fiscal Year 2021 $50.5 million in Federal funding was used to fund 125 WaterSMART Grants projects across the western states.
Fiscal Year 2022 Through the Water and Energy Efficiency Grants funding opportunity, Reclamation selected 35 projects totaling over $42 million in Federal funding, including $25.5 million in BIL funds. . Under the Environmental Water Resources Projects funding opportunity, Reclamation selected 27 projects totaling $36.1 million in Federal funding, including $26.7 million in BIL funds. Under the Small-Scale Water Efficiency Projects funding opportunity, Reclamation selected 82 projects totaling $7.04 million in BIL funding.
Fiscal Year 2023 Through the Water and Energy Efficiency Grants funding opportunity, Reclamation selected 84 projects totaling $140 million in Federal funding, including $100 million in BIL funds. Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009, Section 9504(a), Public Law 111-11
Public Law 117-58
Section 40907 Multi-Benefit Projects to Improve Watershed Health 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 C Applicants: Nonprofit conservation organizations submitting an application for a project to improve the condition of a natural feature without a category A partner must demonstrate that entities described in Category A in the applicable service area have been notified of the project and do not object. Category A and B applicants are eligible under all funding opportunities under WaterSMART Grants. Category C applicants are only eligible under the Environmental Water Resources Projects funding opportunity. Applicants must be located in the Western United States or United States Territories specifically: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming (the "17 Western States"), Alaska, Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, or Puerto Rico. 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. This program is excluded from coverage under 2 CFR 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards. Proposals received in response to the funding opportunity 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. For other awards made under this Assistance Listing using this statutory authority, the awards may be made competitively or non-competitively. 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/ Under WaterSMART Grants, Reclamation provides cost-shared financial assistance through a set of competitive funding opportunities including: the Water and Energy Efficiency Grants, Small-Scale Water Efficiency Projects, Planning and Project Design grants, and Environmental Water Resources Projects. Reclamation may also provide financial assistance for these types of water conservation projects under this Assistance Listing using this statutory authority, either competitively or non-competitively, for other projects when another Reclamation Assistance Listing is not available. 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. 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. In general, projects should be completed within 2 to 3 years of award, depending on the amount of funding requested. Applications for projects requiring more time will be considered for funding only under limited circumstances. Payment terms vary by agreement awarded under this program. You can find information regarding Reclamation's regional and local offices online at: https://www.usbr.gov/main/offices.html. Josh German
Bureau of Reclamation, Water Resources and Planning Office, Attn: Josh German, Mail Code: 86-63000, Denver Federal Center, P.O. Box 25007
Denver, CO 80225 US
jgerman@usbr.gov
Phone: (303) 445-2839
Fax: (702) 544-4207 http://www.usbr.gov/WaterSMART/grants.html 14-0680-0-1-301 (Cooperative Agreements (Discretionary Grants)) FY 22$45,500,000.00; FY 23 est $65,000,000.00; FY 24 est $13,689,999.00; FY 21$55,000,000.00; FY 20$55,000,000.00; FY 19$34,000,000.00; FY 18$23,365,000.00; FY 17$27,500,000.00; - Appropriations(Cooperative Agreements (Discretionary Grants)) FY 22$160,000,000.00; FY 23 est $149,500,000.00; FY 24 est $149,999,999.00; - Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Funding Range: $50,000-$5,000,000 Average: $500,000 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. Fiscal Year 2017 Information not available. The Buena Vista Water Storage District, near Bakersfield, California, will convert 9 miles of unlined canals and ditches to 8.4 miles of polyvinyl chloride and high-density polyethylene pipelines. These improvements are expected to result in annual water savings of 4,802 acre-feet that is currently being lost to seepage and over-deliveries. The conserved water will be used to offset groundwater pumping. The City of Alpine, located south of Salt Lake City, Utah, will install 2,420 meters on currently unmetered connections throughout the City’s pressurized irrigation system. In addition to meters, the City will install Advanced Metering Infrastructure to allow for real-time flow monitoring, automatic meter reading, and usage-based billing. Once completed, the project is expected to result in annual water savings of 1,040 acre-feet, reducing the City’s reliance on pumping water from the North Utah County Aquifer. Examples of all projects funded to date are available at https://www.usbr.gov/watersmart/grants.html
Fiscal Year 2019 The North Kern Water Storage District in Bakersfield, California, will line 2,200 feet of the unlined Calloway Canal with a reinforced concrete liner. The area near the canal has been negatively impacted by an over-reliance on groundwater and a multi-year drought. The canal lining is expected to result in annual water savings of 758 acre-feet, which is currently seeping into the groundwater basin that has poor water quality. In addition, the project includes the installation of magnetic flowmeters and water level sensors at 50 of the District’s production wells, along with telemetry upgrades, and integration of these improvements with the existing Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system. These additional improvements will allow the District to better control well operations and access real-time groundwater pumping data remotely, resulting in an expected annual water savings of 818 acre-feet from reduced pumping. Overall, the project is expected to result in 1,576 acre-feet of water savings, which will be used to reduce groundwater pumping. The Long Beach Water Department will replace 11,397 manually read meters with advanced metering infrastructure (AMI). The project is expected to result in annual water savings of 1,367 acre-feet currently lost to leaks and over consumption. Water conserved through the project will supplement the City’s finite water supply from the Central Groundwater Basin and will offset the need to purchase additional water from other sources. Examples of all projects funded to date are available at https://www.usbr.gov/watersmart/grants.html
Fiscal Year 2020 The North Kern Water Storage District, located in Bakersfield, California, received $1.5 million in fiscal year (FY) 2020 Federal funding to line 3,841 feet of an unlined portion of the Calloway Canal with 4-inch thick unreinforced concrete. The canal lining is expected to result in annual water savings of 1,349 acre-feet, which is currently seeping into the groundwater basin that has poor water quality. Additionally, the District will install flow meters, water level sensors, and telemetry at seven of the District’s production wells. These additional improvements will provide real-time data and allow the District to better control well operations, resulting in an expected annual water savings of 289 acre-feet from reduced pumping. The groundwater basin in the San Joaquin Valley portion of Kern County is critically stressed, especially when pumping increases during dry years. Overall, the project is expected to result in 1,638 acre-feet of water savings, which will offset groundwater pumping.// The City of Ammon, located in southeastern Idaho, received $300,000 in FY 2020 Federal funding to install advanced metering infrastructure water meters in 916 residences that are currently unmetered. The City’s population has more than doubled between 2000 and 2010 and the growth is expected to continue. The project is expected to result in annual water savings of 258 acre-feet by allowing the City to better monitor water usage and identify leaks, fluctuations, and other inconsistencies in the system. The water conserved will remain in the Eastern Snake River Plain Aquifer, which will strengthen the reliability of the City’s existing groundwater rights to adequately serve its growing population.
Fiscal Year 2021 The San Luis Rey Indian Water Authority (IWA), located in Northern San Diego County, California, received $200,000 in fiscal year (FY) 2021 Federal funding to partner with five local Tribal Bands to develop a water marketing strategy to address both surface and groundwater resources. The goal of the strategy is to reduce dependence on imported water by developing water rights and infrastructure use agreements to move water to parts of the reservation that are not able to meet their demands, especially during times of drought. Along with the five Tribal Bands, the IWA is planning stakeholder outreach activities that include eight additional municipal water districts, two community service districts, six mutual water companies, and farm bureau and agricultural interests. In addition, the IWA will conduct a surface and groundwater inventory, and establish a format for ongoing coordination between the IWA, the Bands, and non-Indian entities to support water supply reliability.
Fiscal Year 2023 For descriptions of previously funded projects, please visit our website at: https://www.usbr.gov/watersmart/index.html.