Opportunity Information: Apply for BOR UC 17 N021
The Bureau of Reclamation (Department of the Interior) grant opportunity titled "Consultation to Develop Upper Colorado River Commission Pilot Projects" (Funding Opportunity Number BOR UC 17 N021; CFDA 15.517) is a discretionary grant focused on addressing the Colorado River Basin's long-running drought and the resulting risk of critically low reservoir levels at Lake Powell and Lake Mead. The backdrop for the funding is the sustained, severe drought conditions described in Upper Colorado River Commission (UCRC) testimony to Congress, highlighting that continued low inflows could threaten hydropower generation at Lake Powell and accelerate the need for shortage actions tied to Lake Mead. In practical terms, the opportunity is about supporting near-term drought contingency and system conservation actions that can reduce the likelihood of reservoirs dropping to dangerously low elevations.
This funding traces back to money Congress appropriated in the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015. Reclamation indicates it intends to provide these funds to the UCRC to help run a pilot program in the Upper Colorado River Basin. The underlying intent is to support municipal Colorado River Basin water users and other non-federal partners in implementing conservation-related projects or in renewing/implementing existing water conservation agreements that were already in place as of the law's enactment. The broader theme is "system conservation" in the Upper Basin, meaning efforts designed to conserve water in ways that could help stabilize the system overall during drought, particularly by reducing risks to the major storage reservoirs.
The work plan described in the opportunity makes clear that the UCRC is expected to act as the program administrator for the Upper Basin pilot. The tasks emphasize building and running a structured project-selection pipeline: developing and issuing Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for pilot projects, conducting outreach across the Upper Basin states (Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico) so potential participants are aware of the RFPs, collecting submissions, and performing an initial screening and evaluation. The UCRC may bring in consultants to help organize proposals, support project selection, and provide technical assistance where needed.
A key feature of the program is coordination. After proposals are gathered and initially reviewed, UCRC is expected to meet with Reclamation and other System Conservation Partners to discuss the submissions and jointly select which Upper Basin proposals will move forward. The Commission must also maintain the official approval documentation for the Upper Basin System Conservation Program, which suggests an emphasis on transparent decision-making, records management, and defensible selection processes.
The grant also anticipates that this will not be a single, one-off solicitation. UCRC is tasked with facilitating and administering a second phase of RFPs, including review, approval, and project execution. Alongside those phases, the opportunity highlights the importance of verification and measurement. UCRC may need consultants to help establish project-specific verification programs, and it may also employ consultants to conduct in-field verification of the conservation measures actually implemented. In other words, it is not just about funding conservation activities on paper; it is also about confirming implementation and tracking what was achieved.
For each selected project, UCRC is expected to develop a System Conservation Implementation Agreement (SCIA). This involves drafting the agreement for each proposal, circulating it to the relevant parties for review and approval, executing the finalized agreements, and then serving as the ongoing administrator for those SCIAs in the Upper Basin. This administrative role implies responsibilities such as coordinating timelines, ensuring compliance with agreement terms, managing documentation, and supporting the practical rollout of selected projects.
Another central deliverable is the exploration of monitoring and estimation approaches across each Upper Division State. The opportunity explicitly calls for UCRC to examine mechanisms and opportunities available in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and New Mexico for monitoring or estimating the amount of system conservation achieved by approved projects and evaluating any broader system benefits of the conserved water in the Upper Basin. This is an important element because basin-scale conservation benefits can be complicated to quantify; the program is designed to learn what monitoring and estimation approaches work best in different state contexts and project types.
In terms of basic grant details, the opportunity was posted with a creation date of September 11, 2017, and an original closing date of September 25, 2017. It carried an award ceiling of $1,000,000 and anticipated a single award. Eligibility is listed as nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education). The overall takeaway is that this grant was structured to fund UCRC's management and technical administration of an Upper Basin pilot program that solicits, selects, contracts, verifies, and evaluates water conservation projects intended to reduce drought risk and help protect the Colorado River system under ongoing shortage pressure.Apply for BOR UC 17 N021
- The Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Consultation to Develop Upper Colorado River Commission Pilot Projects" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.517.
- This funding opportunity was created on Sep 11, 2017.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 25, 2017. (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 $1,000,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.
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