Center Advanced Decision Support for Water and Environmental Systems | BOR PN 18 N032

Opportunity Information: Apply for BOR PN 18 N032

The Center Advanced Decision Support for Water and Environmental Systems grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number BOR PN 18 N032) is a Bureau of Reclamation (Department of the Interior) discretionary cooperative agreement focused on strengthening day-to-day decision support for reservoir and river operations in the Klamath River basin. The core purpose is to deliver practical analysis tools that help water managers operate reservoirs more flexibly under highly variable hydrologic conditions, especially droughts and floods, while balancing two often competing objectives: reliably meeting Klamath Project water supply deliveries and meeting instream flow requirements in the Klamath River.

A central premise of the opportunity is that Klamath River management is entering a period of significant change due to multiple ongoing and anticipated activities in the watershed. Because operations, constraints, and stakeholder needs are evolving, the opportunity emphasizes the importance of reassessing existing management strategies and the tools currently used by basin operators. The project is designed to build directly on prior federal planning and modeling efforts, particularly the SECURE Reservoir Operations Pilot Study for Upper Klamath Lake and the broader Klamath River Basin Study. Rather than starting from scratch, the work extends earlier findings and adapts them to the basin's emerging realities, with a focus on informing how operational policies may need to shift as conditions and requirements change.

Technically, the work centers on further developing and testing an existing RiverWare model so it can support daily operational decision-making, including flood control considerations. RiverWare is positioned as the primary platform for representing and analyzing system operations, and the grant calls for enhancing the model's operational policies so they reflect current, real-world practices rather than outdated assumptions. A key part of that effort is developing a detailed understanding of how Klamath operations function today and how they have changed since implementation of the 2013 Biological Assessment, which has influenced operational rules and environmental compliance needs. The University of Colorado's Center for Advanced Decision Support for Water and Environmental Systems (CU-CADSWES) is identified as the technical lead, working in close coordination with Reclamation operators in the Klamath Basin Area.

Beyond model improvements, the opportunity stresses the practical challenge of turning model output into information that stakeholders can actually use and trust. To that end, the project includes developing and testing methods and tools to communicate model results to the stakeholder community. This implies an emphasis not only on analytical capability, but also on transparency, interpretability, and the ability to explain tradeoffs in operational decisions in a way that supports collaboration and reduces conflict.

Recipient involvement is described as hands-on and tied to documenting and translating operational knowledge into usable model logic and supporting materials. Specific tasks include reviewing documentation of current Klamath River operations provided by Reclamation's Technical Service Center, helping document foreseeable changes in daily operations, and assisting in documenting the existing Klamath Basin Area Office spreadsheet-based operations model along with the decision-making information it uses. In effect, the recipient is expected to help bridge the gap between institutional knowledge and an operationally credible RiverWare implementation that can be used routinely, not just for long-range planning.

From a funding and eligibility standpoint, the opportunity falls under CFDA 15.560 and is categorized under science and technology and other research and development, with a cooperative agreement structure indicating substantial federal involvement during execution. Eligible applicants are public and state-controlled institutions of higher education. The award ceiling is $160,000, with one expected award. The notice was created July 31, 2018, with an original closing date of August 14, 2018.

• The Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Center Advanced Decision Support for Water and Environmental Systems" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.560.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jul 31, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 14, 2018. (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 $160,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.

Apply for BOR PN 18 N032

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