Funding Opportunities

Funding for Water Resources 104g-General

The U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the National Institutes for Water Resources supports an annual call for proposals to focus on water problems and issues that are of a regional or interstate nature or relate to a specific program priority identified by the Secretary of the Interior and the Institutes.

The program objectives of the National Competitive Grants program are to promote collaboration between the USGS and university scientists in research on significant national and regional water resources issues; promote the dissemination and results of the research funded under this program; and to assist in the training of scientists in water resources.

Funding for this FY2026 program includes $462,500 in federal funds that are required to be matched with non-federal dollars. 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.

Proposals are sought on the topic of data centers and other water intensive industries.

Research Priority:

The rapid expansion of data centers and other water intensive industries that rely on public supply systems has outpaced the availability of accurate, transparent, and timely information about their water use. Existing datasets often contain gaps, inconsistencies, and uncertainties that limit the ability of communities, utilities, and policymakers to make informed decisions. As public concern grows and water resource pressures intensify, there is a critical need for improved methodologies that can more reliably characterize industrial water withdrawals, cooling demands, and local impacts. This Notice of Funding Opportunity seeks to address these challenges by advancing observational and analytical approaches capable of reducing uncertainty and strengthening confidence in publicly available information.

The scope includes the development, testing, and demonstration of innovative methodologies for observing, estimating, and validating water use associated with data centers and other industries drawing from public supply systems including the identification of variables for accurate prediction of data center water usage, quantification of the uncertainty around those predictions, and the ability to forecast future scenarios of usage. Proposers must design approaches that integrate diverse data sources–such as utility records, operational data, environmental conditions, and publicly reported metrics – to produce more accurate and interpretable representations of water use. A central requirement of this effort is the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to enhance data transparency, improve traceability, and identify sources of bias or uncertainty within existing datasets. Potential areas of research include quantifying water reuse from onsite or municipal wastewater treatment facilities, characterizing self-supplied withdrawals from wells, reservoirs, or rivers, and evaluating how seasonal variability influences industrial water demand.

Proposed methodologies should be scalable, adaptable to different geographic and regulatory contexts, and capable of supporting both national level assessments and localized decision making. Approaches must account for the variability in industrial processes, cooling technologies, water supply conditions, and the potential for alternative water sources such as reclaimed water or self-supplied withdrawals. Proposers should also incorporate strategies for validating results against independent or ground truth data and for capturing temporal dynamics, including seasonal fluctuations in water use. Proposals must articulate clear performance metrics, describe anticipated data needs and limitations, and outline how their methods will improve upon current practices used by utilities, regulators, and industry stakeholders.

The selected awardee will work collaboratively with federal partners, local utilities, regional planning bodies, and industry representatives to ensure that the resulting methodologies are practical, credible, and aligned with real world information needs. Engagement with these stakeholders should inform the design and refinement of analytical approaches, support the interpretation of results, and help identify pathways for long term adoption. The final deliverables should provide a robust, transparent framework for observing and communicating industrial water use – including reuse, self-supply, and seasonal variability – enabling communities and decisionmakers to better understand the implications of datacenter growth and other public supply dependent industries.

There are multiple deadlines for proposal submission: See submission guidelines for specific information
October 15, 2026 at 10:00AM Eastern – Intent to Submit notification
October 28, 2026 at 11:59PM Eastern – Budget submission
November 5, 2026 at 10:00AM Eastern – Remaining proposal documents

FY2026 Request for Proposals (.pdf)

Project Abstract Summary
Budget justification (examples of good and bad budget justification)
Budget-sheet
104g-budget instructions
Data management template
IWRRC Required Statements
Covered UAS Assessment Guide
WRRA Special Terms and Conditions
Common Form for Biographical Sketch (OMB 3145-0279) template
Common Form for Current and Pending (OMB 3145-0279) template
Letter of Intent (For non-Purdue applicants only)
Other application documents needed include: SF-424, SF-424A, SF-LLL, and Certification Regarding Lobbying

The IWRRC has developed Submission Guidelines to provide assistance with the proposal process.

Funding for 104g Aquatic Invasive Species – No Funding for FY2026

Text provided from the RFP: The challenges and opportunities that link aquatic invasive species and water resources are poorly understood, despite the real and growing effect of numerous aquatic invasive species on water quality, water quantity, and aquatic ecosystems. Research is needed to better identify and understand these interactions and to guide management decisions that will help to improve invasive species management and thus reduce effects of invasive species on water resources and aquatic ecosystems at local, regional, and national scales.

Proposals are sought on the following specific areas of inquiry (levels of priority are not assigned, and the order of listing does not indicate the level of priority):

• Effects: Research that improves our understanding of the effects of aquatic invasive species on lakes, rivers, and associated tributaries in the upper Mississippi River basin, including changes to water quantity, water quality, and ecosystem dynamics.
• Characteristics: Research that identifies physical, biological, and chemical characteristics of water bodies that infer resistance and resilience to the distribution, establishment, and effects of aquatic invasive species in the upper Mississippi River basin. Research is needed to better understand these interactions to guide management decisions that will improve invasive species management and result in positive effects on aquatic ecosystems.
• Management: Research on assessment of the detection, spread, and management of aquatic invasive species in the upper Mississippi River basin and the connections to human dimensions, both socially and economically. Note that this does not include physical control of AIS.

For more information, please review the RFP below.

Full proposals must be submitted through IWRRC.

There are multiple deadlines for proposal submission: See submission guidelines for specific information
September 3, 2025 at 5:00PM Eastern – Intent to Submit notification
September 18, 2025 at 10:00AM Eastern – Budget submission
September 26, 2025 at 10:00AM Eastern – Remaining proposal documents

2025 Request for Proposal – Aquatic Invasive Species (.pdf) – closed for 2025

Budget-justification (examples of good and bad budget justification)
Budget-sheet
104g-budget instructions
Data management checklist
IWRRC Required Statements
Attachment 1 – WRRA Special Terms and Conditions Geospatial Data
Attachment 2 – Focus Categories
DOI covered UAS assessment guide
Attachment 3 – Example of USGS Collaboration
Common Form for Biographical Sketch (OMB 3145-0279) template
Common Form for Current and Pending (OMB 3145-0279) template
Other application documents needed include: SF-424, SF-424A, SF-LLL, and Certification Regarding Lobbying

The IWRRC has developed Submission Guidelines to provide assistance with the proposal process.

104g PFAS National Competitive Research Grants – FY2026 Coming Soon

Text from the RFP: The challenges and opportunities of understanding the impact of per-and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) substances on water resources are poorly understood, despite the real and growing effect of this group of man-made substances on water quality. Research is needed to better understand these interactions and guide management decisions that will improve water resources at the regional scale or national scale.

Proposals are sought on the following specific areas of inquiry (levels of priority are not assigned, and the order of listing does not indicate the level of priority):

• Media-specific methods: Enhanced methods for detection on specific media, with a clear indication of
  • new or different compounds,
  • new or different methodological approaches,
  • lower detection levels for specific media or compounds, especially with respect to EPA health guidelines for PFOA (Perfluorooctanoic Acid) and PFOS (Perfluorooctane Sulfonate).

Media of interest include (in ranked order) (1) Tissues/plasma, (2) sediment, (3) air or interfaces, (4) water.

• Atmospheric sources: Improved understanding of atmospheric exchange in PFAS distribution and fate. This may include methods to determine transport of PFAS to the atmosphere and to subsequent receiving waters, such as a water method that determines “new” compounds based on their likelihood to occur in the atmosphere.
• Processes oriented at molecular level: Process-oriented research of PFAS fate, transport, and effects, with emphasis on molecular-level understanding of PFAS precursor transformation, sorption dynamics, or mechanisms of bioaccumulation and(or) biological/ecological effects, or biodegradation of PFAS along source to receptor pathways and identification of mitigation methods and engage modeling and forecasting processes for prediction, prevention, and mitigation of enviromental risk of exposure to PFAS in ecosystems and human population.

For more information, please review the RFP below.

Full proposals must be submitted through IWRRC.

There are multiple deadlines for proposal submission: See submission guidelines for specific information
September 3, 2025 at 5:00PM Eastern – Intent to Submit notification
September 18, 2025 at 10:00AM Eastern – Budget submission
September 26, 2025 at 10:00AM Eastern – Remaining proposal documents

2025 Request for Proposal – PFAS (.pdf) – closed for 2025

Budget-justification (examples of good and bad budget justification)
Budget-sheet
104g-budget instructions
Data management checklist
IWRRC Required Statements
Attachment 1 – WRRA Special Terms and Conditions Geospatial Data
Attachment 2 – Focus Categories
DOI covered UAS assessment guide
Attachment 3 – Example of USGS Collaboration
Common Form for Biographical Sketch (OMB 3145-0279) template
Common Form for Current and Pending (OMB 3145-0279) template
Other application documents needed include: SF-424, SF-424A, SF-LLL, and Certification Regarding Lobbying

The IWRRC has developed Submission Guidelines to provide assistance with the proposal process.