Featured Water-Related Funding Opportunities

The Office of Research is promoting opportunities to help USU's cadre of high-achieving researchers continue their quest for discovery. To promote engagement around societally important research area affecting Utah, the nation and world, the Office of Research will be hosting a series of Research Summits for researchers wanting to build relationships across campus on these key topic areas.

Water

This event was held on April 23, 2024, at the Maverik Stadium Champions Club (3rd Floor) on water and water-related topics. The program included:

  • A panel of USU and industry representatives focused on water-related issues in the region
  • An overview of water-related external funding opportunities
  • An opportunity for networking to explore forming research teams

The panel members included:

  • Bethany Neilson, Professor, College of Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering; Utah Water Research Laboratory
  • Burdette Barker, Irrigation Specialist, Extension, Civil and Environmental Engineering
  • Connely Baldwin, Water Resources Engineer / Hydrologist, Pacificorp
  • Courtney Flint, Professor, Quinney College of Natural Resources, Environment & Socieyt / Ecology Center

RSVP for Summit

Selected List of External Funding Opportunities Related to Water

Funder Program Description Due Date
Bureau of Reclamation Snow Water Supply Forecasting Program FY 2024 The United States Department of the Interior (Department), Bureau of Reclamation’s (Reclamation) Snow Water Supply Forecasting Program (Program) aims to improve the skill of water supply forecasts via enhancing snow monitoring through the deployment of emerging technologies to complement existing monitoring techniques and networks. 5/6/20224
USDA Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) FY24 Monitoring, Assessment, and Evaluation (MAE) Opportunity FSA is announcing the availability of cooperative agreement funding for up to $10 million to monitor, assess, and evaluate conservation approaches and technologies in conjunction with the Conservation Reserve Program. Projects are expected to inform policy and/or improve delivery of the Conservation Reserve Program. 5/31/2024
NIH Request for Information: Drinking Water Contaminants of Emerging Concern for National Emerging Contaminant Research Initiative This RFI requests feedback on two sections: the need for coordination of efforts and the scientific focus of a DW CEC effort. (1) Feedback on Improving and Coordinating DW CEC Efforts and (2) Feedback on DW CEC Research Areas 6/2/2024
Bureau of Reclamation WaterSMART Applied Science Grants  Provides funding to non-Federal entities for the development of tools and information to support water management for multiple uses.Eligible projects include the development of modeling and forecasting tools, hydrologic data platforms, and new data sets. Expected release June 2024
USDA Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) Classic for Federal fiscal year (FY) 2024 The RCPP promotes the coordination of NRCS conservation activities with partners that offer value-added contributions to expand our ability to address on-farm, watershed, and regional natural resource concerns. Through the RCPP, NRCS seeks to co-invest with partners to implement projects that provide solutions to conservation challenges thereby measurably improving the resource concerns they seek to address. RCPP promotes collaboration with partners, stakeholders, and various communities, which is paramount to achieving equity in NRCS programs and services. 7/2/2024
Great Salt Lake Audubon GSLA Grant Program Successful applicants will demonstrate that their request aligns with the GSLA mission, and projects should focus on areas such as conservation, education or academic research. While they consider all applications, their preference is to fund hard costs such as equipment or supplies.  9/1/2024
NOAA Ocean Exploration Fiscal Year 2025 Funding Opportunity NOAA Ocean Exploration is soliciting proposals for ocean exploration-related projects under two themes: Ocean Exploration and Maritime Heritage. By supporting exploration (i.e., examining unknown or poorly understood areas of the seafloor, sub-bottom, or water column through initial assessments of the physical, chemical, geological, biological, archaeological, or other characteristics), NOAA Ocean Exploration seeks to advance our basic understanding of the unknown ocean.  10/3/2024
Fish and Wildlife Service National Fish Passage Program Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: Restoring River, Floodplain, and Coastal Connectivity and Resiliency The NFPP is a voluntary program that provides direct technical and financial assistance to partners to remove instream barriers, restore aquatic organism passage, and restore climate resilient aquatic connectivity in rivers, floodplains, and coastal habitats for the benefit of Federal trust resources. The program targets aquatic connectivity opportunities that rebuild productive and sustainable fisheries, contribute to the recovery and conservation of the Service’s aquatic trust species, enhance watershed health, promote resilient ecosystems and communities especially in disadvantaged communities, and improve economic vitality, including local employment. 12/31/2024
NSF Hydrologic Sciences Supports research on water beneath and on the Earth’s surface and relationships of water with material and living components of the environment, with a focus on hydrologic processes and fluxes of water. Rolling deadline
NSF Environmental Sustainability The goal of the Environmental Sustainability program is to promote sustainable engineered systems that support human well-being and that are also compatible with sustaining natural (environmental) systems. These systems provide ecological services vital for human survival. Research efforts supported by the program typically consider long time horizons and may incorporate contributions from the social sciences and ethics. Rolling deadline
NSF Civil Infrastructure Systems (CIS) Supports fundamental research focused on the design and management of infrastructure, such as transportation, power, water and pipelines. Projects will support the creation of smart, sustainable national and international communities. Rolling deadline
USDA Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program Foundational and Applied Science Program AFRI is America’s flagship competitive grants program that provides funding for fundamental and applied research, education, and extension projects in the food and agricultural sciences. In this RFA, NIFA requests applications for the six AFRI priority areas through the Foundational and Applied Science Program for 2024. The goal of this program is to invest in agricultural production research, education, and extension projects for more sustainable, productive, and economically-viable plant and animal production systems. Multiple deadlines
GSLWET Wetlands Protection and/or Restoration Grant Protection and/or Restoration of Wetlands and Habitats in Great Salt Lake's surrounding ecosystem to benefit the hydrology of Great Salt Lake. Application has closed, but still accepting letters of interest for future grant funds. TBD
UT Division of Forestry, Fire & State Lands Great Salt Lake Research Grants The Utah Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands (“Division”) requests proposals for research projects that will further knowledge of Great Salt Lake (“GSL”). Research projects will provide lake managers with a better understanding of the complexities of GSL in order to best inform management decisions. FY25 grant application has closed, but expect upcoming application opportunities in March 2025 TBD

 

External Funding Opportunities Related to Water

For a comprehensive list of water-related funding opportunities visit the Office of Research's curated funding search.

 

Team Science Resources