Understanding the role of increasing water quality and groundwater inputs on ecosystem structure, function, and health in Big Bend National Park | P18AS00546

Opportunity Information: Apply for P18AS00546

This funding opportunity is a National Park Service (NPS) discretionary grant action under the U.S. Department of the Interior focused on natural resource science in Big Bend National Park. The project title makes the core purpose clear: to understand how changes in water quality and groundwater contributions affect ecosystem structure, ecosystem function, and overall ecological health in the park. In practical terms, the work would center on springs, seeps, stream reaches, riparian corridors, and other water-dependent habitats where groundwater plays a major role, with the goal of connecting hydrologic conditions and water chemistry to biological communities and ecosystem processes.

The opportunity is listed as a Cooperative Agreement, which generally indicates substantial involvement by the federal agency during the project rather than a hands-off grant. That typically means NPS staff may help refine study questions, coordinate access to park sites, provide existing datasets and monitoring history, align methods with park management needs, and collaborate on interpretation and application of results. The activity category is Natural Resources and the CFDA number is 15.945, a National Park Service assistance listing used for projects that support conservation, research, and resource stewardship.

This is not an open competition and not a request for applications. The notice indicates an intent to award to Utah State University under an existing master agreement (P17AC01073), meaning the recipient and award pathway were pre-identified. Because of that, the "Eligible Applicants" field points to "Others" with additional eligibility details, but the key takeaway is that this particular action is effectively a directed award rather than a broadly competed funding call.

Funding is capped at an award ceiling of $48,203, with one expected award. The opportunity was created on August 17, 2018. The listing’s closing date language reinforces that there is no application deadline in the usual sense because it is a notice of intent to award rather than a solicitation.

Substantively, the project’s theme suggests an integrated ecohydrology and water-quality assessment. "Increasing water quality and groundwater inputs" implies the park is seeing changing conditions in either groundwater contribution (quantity, timing, or connectivity) and/or water chemistry (such as salinity, nutrients, dissolved oxygen, temperature, major ions, metals, or other indicators). The research would likely evaluate how those changes influence ecosystem structure (for example, which species are present and how communities are assembled), function (such as nutrient cycling, primary productivity, decomposition, and food-web dynamics), and health (metrics like habitat condition, stress indicators in key species, biodiversity measures, or presence of invasive or nuisance organisms). In a desert park like Big Bend, even small shifts in groundwater-fed systems can have outsized effects on riparian vegetation, aquatic invertebrates, amphibians, fish, and the wildlife that relies on persistent water sources.

From a management standpoint, the anticipated value of a project like this is decision-ready science. Results can help park managers identify which water sources and habitats are most sensitive to changes in groundwater inputs, distinguish natural variability from concerning trends, and prioritize monitoring or protective actions. It can also inform how the park evaluates potential external pressures on groundwater and water quality, such as regional water use, drought, land-use change in surrounding areas, or episodic contamination events, even when those pressures originate outside park boundaries.

In summary, this is a single-recipient, cooperative, research-oriented NPS funding action designed to improve understanding of how water quality and groundwater contributions shape ecological condition in Big Bend National Park, with a modest budget (up to $48,203) and a directed intent to award to Utah State University rather than an open call for proposals.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Understanding the role of increasing water quality and groundwater inputs on ecosystem structure, function, and health in Big Bend National Park" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.945.
• This funding opportunity was created on Aug 17, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Notice of Intent to Award to Utah State University under Master Agreement P17AC01073 Not a request for applications. (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 $48,203.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for P18AS00546

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