Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Colorado Plateau Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit | G22AS00052

Opportunity Information: Apply for G22AS00052

This funding opportunity (Opportunity Number G22AS00052) is a US Geological Survey (USGS) cooperative agreement aimed specifically at partners within the Colorado Plateau Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU). It supports science and technology research focused on improving how snow and mountain hydrology are represented in physically based models used to predict water resources in regions where snowpack dominates the annual water supply. The USGS is using this award to strengthen the Water Mission Area (WMA) modeling toolkit, with an emphasis on capturing high-resolution climate influences and detailed snow processes that drive runoff and water availability in complex mountainous terrain. The work is intended to directly inform both basin-scale efforts in the Upper Colorado River Basin and broader national water modeling initiatives.

The central purpose of the agreement is to advance physically based snow process modeling so that forecasts and scenario analyses of water resources are more accurate under both present-day conditions and future climate variability and change. In practical terms, this means improving the way models simulate regional climate inputs (including how those inputs vary across elevation and terrain) and the fine-scale snow hydrology processes that control accumulation, metamorphism, melt timing, sublimation, and how snowmelt translates into streamflow and water availability. By improving these representations, the resulting models can better support water supply planning, drought and runoff timing assessments, and ecological water needs in snow-fed systems.

The opportunity is tied to two USGS efforts: the Snow Hydrology project and the Predictive Understanding of Multiscale Processes (PUMP) project under the Integrated Water Prediction (IWP) program. Researchers within WMA are building multi-scale, integrated modeling capabilities, and this cooperative agreement is meant to push those capabilities forward through targeted research contributions from a CESU partner. The emphasis on "multi-scale" signals that the USGS is interested in approaches that connect fine-resolution snow and climate processes in mountainous environments to larger watershed or regional predictions used for management and national assessments. The overall outcome is expected to be better tools and methods for evaluating and predicting water availability for people as well as aquatic ecosystems that depend on snowmelt-driven flows.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity offered as a cooperative agreement, which generally implies substantial involvement and collaboration with USGS scientists during the project period (as opposed to a more hands-off grant). The activity category is Science and Technology and other Research and Development, and the listing is under CFDA 15.808. Eligibility is limited to participating partners of the Colorado Plateau CESU, reflecting the CESU program model of leveraging established partnerships to deliver research, technical assistance, and education relevant to federal resource management missions.

Key details included in the notice indicate an award ceiling of $148,537 and an original closing date of November 16, 2021, with the opportunity created on October 13, 2021. Only CESU-affiliated partners within the Colorado Plateau CESU network are eligible to apply, and the sponsoring agency is the USGS.

• The Geological Survey in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Colorado Plateau Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.808.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2021-10-13.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-11-16. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $148,537.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for G22AS00052

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: