National Competitive Grants Program (104G) Accepting Proposals

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the National Institutes for Water Resources, requests proposals for research projects to address improving and enhancing the nation’s water supply and availability, as well as promoting the exploration of new ideas that address or expand our understanding of water problems.

For the 2023 National Competitive Grants Program, proposals must address one of the priority areas:

• National-scale evaluation of water budget: Retrospective or predictive analyses using hydroclimate-forcing data sets, with emphasis on CONUS404, which was developed in a USGS- NCAR collaboration.
  • Additional guidance includes: Emphasis on prediction of water-budget components through a variety of interpretive approaches; Incorporation of how uncertainty in hydroclimate-forcing propagates to water budget component; Consideration of both retrospective and projected conditions.
• Socieoeconomics: Integrate ongoing USGS research and data collection in order to assess socioeconomic and ecological vulnerability to compounding extreme events and develop adaptation measures. This proposed project should undertake new research (e.g., Water Use and Social and Economic Drivers Program) to understand the vulnerability of urban (e.g., trans-basin diversions), agricultural (e.g., reservoir management), and ecological (e.g., endangered species) water-use sectors to drought and compounding hazards such as wildfire.
  • Additional guidance includes: Provide a quantifiable portfolio of risk for water-use sectors (including ecological and socio-economic); Develop climate futures and planning scenarios for relevant institutions: management, communities, other institutions.

Any investigator at an accredited institution of higher learning in the United States is eligible to apply for a grant through a Water Research Institute or Center established under the provisions of the Water Resources Research Act of 1984, as amended (http://water.usgs.gov/wrri/index.php).

Proposals involving substantial collaboration between the USGS and university scientists are encouraged. Proposals may be for projects of 1 to 3 years in duration with discrete 12-month budget periods, and may request up to $310,000 in federal funds. Investigators much match one non-federal dollar to each federal dollar requested.

The deadline for submissions to the Iowa Water Center is April 15, 2022 5 p.m. Central Time. Investigators are encouraged to read through the Iowa Submission Guidelines prior to reviewing the FY2023 announcement.

104(g) Iowa Submission Guidelines

104(g) FY2023 announcement