Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Great Rivers Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit | G23AS00352

Opportunity Information: Apply for G23AS00352

This grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number G23AS00352) is a discretionary cooperative agreement offered by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), specifically through the Central Midwest Water Science Center. It is designed to support research that advances regional water-availability assessments for the Illinois River Basin (ILRB). The funding falls under the Science and Technology and other Research and Development category and is tied to CFDA 15.808. The maximum award amount (award ceiling) listed is $250,000, and the original closing date for applications was May 29, 2023.

The core purpose of the project is to contribute to USGS Integrated Water Availability Assessments (IWAAs). These assessments are intended to be stakeholder-driven and capable of providing near real-time information, along with predictive insights, about how much water is available and how that availability changes over time. In the context of this program, "water availability" is not treated as just streamflow or reservoir storage. It is framed more broadly to include the quantity of water, the timing of water movement and supply, water quality conditions, and how water is used by people and ecosystems. The work supported by this opportunity is meant to strengthen the ability to measure and forecast these factors at both regional and national scales.

The geographic focus is the Illinois River Basin, defined here as the watershed upstream of the Illinois River's confluence with the Mississippi River at Grafton, Illinois. The ILRB was chosen as a Midwestern regional basin within the IWAA effort, with particular attention on nutrient-related water-quality challenges and harmful algal blooms (HABs). These issues are highlighted because they directly affect both ecological conditions (such as aquatic habitat health) and human uses (such as drinking water treatment, recreation, and broader water management decisions). The basin is also part of a larger USGS Integrated Water Science (IWS) Basin project, which signals that the work is intended to connect water-quantity science, water-quality science, and water-use understanding into a more unified basin-scale assessment.

A major theme in the opportunity is that the Illinois River Basin work is not meant to stand alone. USGS describes these regional intensive assessments in selected "reference basins" as a practical way to build, test, and improve methods that can later be integrated into a national assessment and prediction capacity. In other words, the ILRB effort functions as a proving ground for approaches, data integration strategies, and forecasting tools that can be expanded beyond the Midwest. The opportunity also notes that the project will be completed in coordination with the IWS Basin planning process, implying ongoing collaboration and alignment with USGS planning, stakeholders, and basin priorities as the work progresses.

Eligibility is narrow and specific. Applicants must be participants in the Great Rivers Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program (CESU Program number 160). Because this is issued under the CESU framework, it is intended for a partner organization already affiliated with that CESU network. The CESU model emphasizes collaboration and practical science support, combining research, technical assistance, and education in service of public resource management needs. As a cooperative agreement rather than a standard grant, it also typically indicates more substantial federal involvement in the work (such as collaboration on scope, methods, deliverables, or integration with USGS data and operational needs), consistent with the stakeholder-driven and applied nature of IWAA activities.

In practical terms, this opportunity is funding CESU-partner research that helps USGS better characterize and predict water availability in the Illinois River Basin, with a strong emphasis on nutrient dynamics and harmful algal bloom concerns. The expected outcome is improved basin-scale understanding and tools that can inform both human water management and ecological protection, while also helping USGS advance a nationally consistent approach to integrated water availability assessments.

• 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 Great Rivers 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 2023-04-28.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-05-29. (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 $250,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for G23AS00352

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