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The goal of the National Integrated Water Quality Program (NIWQP) is to contribute to the improvement of the quality of surface water and groundwater resources through research, education, and extension activities. Projects funded through this program will work to solve water resource problems by advancing and disseminating the knowledge base available to agricultural, rural, and urbanizing communities. Funded projects should lead to science-based decision making and management practices that improve the quality of the Nations surface water and groundwater resources in agricultural, rural, and urbanizing watersheds.

The Water and Energy for Food ("WE4F") challenge fund is a partnership between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Sweden through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (hereafter the partners[1]). Through WE4F, the partners want to expand the scale of innovations that impact the sectors food and water, food and energy or all three sectors of the nexus (food, water, energy) to increase the sustainability of agricultural food value chains, improving energy and water efficiency as well as to improve climate resilient agriculture in developing countries and emerging markets in accordance with the SDGs, with a particular focus on the poor and women.

Humanity depends upon the Earth's physical resources and natural systems for food, energy, and water (FEW). However, both the physical resources and the FEW systems are under increasing stress. It is becoming imperative that we determine how society can best integrate social, ecological, physical and built environments to provide for growing demand for food, energy and water in the short term while also maintaining appropriate ecosystem services for the future. Known stressors in FEW systems include governance challenges, population growth and migration, land use change, climate variability, and uneven resource distribution. The interconnections and interdependencies associated with the FEW Nexus pose research grand challenges. To meet these grand challenges, there is a critical need for research that enables new means of adapting societal use of FEW systems. The INFEWS program seeks to support research that conceptualizes FEW systems broadly and inclusively, incorporating social and behavioral processes (such as decision making and governance), physical processes (such as built infrastructure and new technologies for more efficient resource utilization), natural processes (such as biogeochemical and hydrologic cycles), biological processes (such as agroecosystem structure and productivity), and cyber-components (such as sensing, networking, computation and visualization for decision-making and assessment). Investigations of these complex systems may produce discoveries that cannot emerge from research on food or energy or water systems alone. It is the synergy among these components in the context of sustainability that will open innovative science and engineering pathways to produce new knowledge, novel technologies, and innovative predictive capabilities.

The Confluence Tech Showcase will connect vendors, manufacturers, developers, entrepreneurs, technologists, engineers, and students to our regional utilities to share solutions to the top challenges that have been identified by the utilities. This call for abstracts is addressed to vendors, manufacturers, developers, researchers, technologists, engineers, utilities, entrepreneurs, students and anyone with a solution to the challenges outlined by the Regional Utility Network.   Topics: (Sessions have been categorized into the following tracks: financial innovations, operational efficiencies, business drivers, resiliency opportunities, regulatory concerns, and water sector challenges for utilities within the water cycle (stormwater, drinking water, wastewater).  Abstracts should provide a technology, process, and/or case study of solutions related to these topics, and clearly indicate their value proposition and unique aspects in addressing the problem.  )

Funds may be used to pay expenses associated with providing technical assistance and/or training (TAT) to identify and evaluate solutions to water problems relating to source, storage, treatment, and distribution, and to waste disposal problems relating to collection, treatment, and disposal; assist applicants that have filed a preapplication with RUS in the preparation of water and/or waste disposal loan and/or grant applications; and to provide training that will improve the management, operation and maintenance of water and waste disposal facilities. Grant funds may not be used to recruit applications, duplicate current services such as those performed by a consultant in developing a project, fund political activities, pay for capital assets, purchase real estate or vehicles, improve and renovate office space or repair and maintain privately owned property, pay construction or O&M costs, and pay costs incurred prior to the effective date of grants made.

The Sustainable Environments Program seeks to create just and sustainable communities in four ways: Sustainable Transportation Networks & Equitable Development Patterns We support clean, affordable, equitable, high-quality and efficient transportation and land use development that better connects critical services, jobs, schools, housing and other regional destinations. Energy Efficiency in the Built Environment No longer accepting grants. New guidelines are under construction to reflect the new direct of Surdna's work in the energy arena. Urban Water Management We support efforts to capture storm water and slowly release it into the existing network of drains, pipes and sewers, or reuse it where it falls to cultivate natural green spaces. Regional Food Supply We support ways to make it easier to get local, sustainably produced food from our farms to the markets closest to where it's grown, and to better connect food producers and consumers. We seek organizations that: -Promote meaningful collaborations and an integrated approach to infrastructure solutions (i.e., ways in which transportation, energy, water, and food systems can be combined); -Focus on infrastructure decisions that better meet the needs of historically underserved communities including low-income communities and people of color; -Promote long-term solutions and leverage strategic infrastructure investments; -Highlight, especially through communications, the multiple benefits of next generation infrastructure.

Water and salt management are vital to agricultural sustainability in Yuma, Arizona, which is located within the Lower Colorado River Basin. Irrigation water contains salts and because the shallow ground water in the valleys, which fluxes up through the fine textured soil by capillarity, also contains salts, some level of excess irrigation (beyond consumptive use) must be applied to leach salts below the crop root zone. Effective leaching is especially important in the Lower Colorado River Basin because many of the crops produced are sensitive to salinity. To reduce risk of loss of crop yield, there is some level of excess irrigation (beyond crop consumptive use) that must be applied to leach salts below the crop root zone.

NIFA initiates a new challenge area to address critical water resources issues such as drought, excess soil moisture, flooding, quality and others in an agricultural context. Funding will be used to develop management practices, technologies, and tools for farmers, ranchers, forest owners and managers, public decision makers, public and private managers, and citizens to improve water resource quantity and quality. NIFA's approach will link social, economic, and behavioral sciences with traditional biophysical sciences and engineering to address regional-scale issues with shared hydrological processes and meteorological and basin characteristics.

NIFA initiates a new challenge area to address critical water resources issues such as drought, excess soil moisture, flooding, quality and others in an agricultural context. Funding will be used to develop management practices, technologies, and tools for farmers, ranchers, forest owners and managers, public decision makers, public and private managers, and citizens to improve water resource quantity and quality. NIFA's approach will link social, economic, and behavioral sciences with traditional biophysical sciences and engineering to address regional-scale issues with shared hydrological processes and meteorological and basin characteristics.

The passive flux meter (PFM) is an innovative method developed at the University of Florida (UF) for measuring groundwater and contaminant flux at hazardous waste sites. The fundamental design has been modified for conducting studies at depths in excess of 100 feet. The PFM will focus on quantifying water flux at greater depth considering enhanced tracer removal with movement through well casing water. The PFMs will be deployed at Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is soliciting proposals from eligible applicants to provide support for training and technical assistance activities to build the capacity of state and tribal officials and nongovernmental stakeholders in the Clean Water Act (CWA) Sections 303(d), 305(b), TMDL Programs, the Nonpoint Source (CWA Section 319) Program, and Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia related activities. 

The National Land Imaging (NLI) Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Land Resources (LR) mission area is soliciting applications from qualified Educational Institutions, State and Local Governments, and Non-profit Organizations (NPOs) to develop a U.S. national consortium to expand the science of remote sensing through education, outreach and research / applications development for environmental monitoring to include the effects of land use and land cover change on water quality, quantity and utility; societal adaptation and phenology; public health-related issues to include identification of potential indicators relating to vector-borne diseases and harmful algal blooms; natural resource management, agricultural applications, disaster risk reduction, and other land surface and surface water monitoring applications.

The purpose of the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program is to encourage research and outreach designed to increase knowledge concerning agricultural production systems that: (1) maintain and enhance the quality and productivity of the soil; (2) conserve soil, water, energy, natural resources, and fish and wildlife habitat; (3) maintain and enhance the quality of surface and ground water; (4) protect the health and safety of persons involved in the food and farm system; (5) promote the well-being of animals; and (6) increase employment opportunities in agriculture (7 U.S.C. 5801 and 5811).

The purpose of the SARE program is to encourage research and outreach designed to increase knowledge concerning agricultural production systems that: (1) maintain and enhance the quality and productivity of the soil; (2) conserve soil, water, energy, natural resources, and fish and wildlife habitat; (3) maintain and enhance the quality of surface and ground water; (4) protect the health and safety of persons involved in the food and farm system; (5) promote the well-being of animals; and (6) increase employment opportunities in agriculture (7 U.S.C. 5801 and 5811).

U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center (NCCWSC) requests a three year cooperative agreement for a project titled: "Assessing the impact of future climate on Hawaii's aquatic ecosystems." NCCWSC synthesizes and integrates climate change impact data and develops tools that the Department of Interior's managers and partners can use when managing the Department's land, water, fish and wildlife, and cultural heritage resources.

BARD projects, conducted cooperatively by American and Israeli scientists, cover all phases of agricultural research and development, including integrated projects and strategic or applied research. Cooperative research entails active collaboration between Israeli and American scientists. The following research areas were identified by the Board of Directors as top priorities for the coming years: Increased Efficiency of Agricultural Production Protection of Plants and Animals Against Biotic and Abiotic Stress Food Quality, Safety and Security Water Quality & Quantity Functional Genomics and Proteomics Sensors and Robotics Sustainable Bio-Energy Systems

The consequences of climate variability and change are becoming more immediate and profound than previously anticipated. Over recent decades, the world has witnessed the onset of prolonged droughts on several continents, increased frequency of floods, loss of agricultural and forest productivity, degraded ocean and permafrost ecosystems, global sea level rise and the rapid retreat of ice sheets and glaciers, loss of arctic sea ice, and changes in ocean currents. These important impacts highlight that climate variability and change can have significant effects on decadal and shorter time scales, with significant consequences for plant, animal, human, and physical systems. The EaSM funding opportunity enables interagency cooperation on one of the most pressing problems of the millennium: climate change and??how it is likely to affect our world. It allows the partner agencies -- National Science Foundation (NSF) and??U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) -- to combine resources to identify and fund the most meritorious and highest-impact projects that support their respective missions, while??avoiding duplication of effort and fostering collaboration between agencies and the investigators they support.This interdisciplinary scientific challenge calls for the development and application of next-generation Earth System Models that include coupled and interactive representations of such??components as ocean and atmospheric currents, agricultural working lands and forests,?? biogeochemistry, atmospheric chemistry,?? the water cycle and land ice.?? This solicitation seeks to attract scientists from the disciplines of geosciences, agricultural sciences, mathematics and statistics. Successful proposals will develop intellectual excitement in the participating disciplinary communities and engage diverse interdisciplinary teams with sufficient breadth to achieve the scientific objectives. 

The Natural Resources Conservation Service in Iowa is requesting proposals to provide implementation of restoration activities on eligible Agricultural Conservation Easement Program - Wetlands Reserve Easements (ACEP-WRE). With the signing of the 2014 Farm Bill, the Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) was de-authorized and program purposes were assimilated into ACEP-WRE. While both WRP and ACEP-WRE easements will undergo wetland restoration activities under this agreement, for consistency with current program offerings all references from this point forward will be made to ACEP-WRE. The objective of ACEP-WRE is to provide technical and financial assistance to landowners in planning, designing and implementing wetland and associated upland restoration plans that maximize wildlife habitat in wetland systems, as well as provide water quality improvements, reduced soil erosion, reduced impacts of flooding and provide wildlife habitat opportunities for threatened and endangered species. Applicants will be responsible for assisting NRCS and landowners by providing technical assistance necessary to implement ACEP-WRE restoration plans, while at the same time improving and protecting wetland habitat for environmental benefits. Performance may include any part or all operations necessary to implement, provide inspection, and management activities for various wetland restoration and enhancement practices and other related conservation practices that meet NRCS standards and specifications.

In 2013, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with BARD -the U.S.-Israel Bi-national Agricultural Research & Development Fund. For 2014, the NIFA-BARD MOU has identified a specific priority area, Water for Agriculture (link to RFA) for mutually beneficial collaboration. For this 2014 Request For Application (RFA), American Land Grant University and Israeli partner scientists may apply together, for a joint project. If the project is recommended for award by the review panel, and subject to availability for funding, the Israeli scientists will be supported by BARD. US scientists may request assistance from the BARD office in identifying an appropriate Israeli partner for the NIFA-BARD collaborative program.

This AFRI Challenge Area focuses on the priority to mitigate and adapt to climate variability and change. It supports activities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase carbon sequestration in agricultural and forest production systems, and prepare the nation's agriculture and forests to adapt to variable climates. The long-term outcome for this program is to reduce the use of energy, nitrogen fertilizer, and water by ten percent and increase carbon sequestration by fifteen percent through resilient agriculture and forest production systems. In order to achieve this outcome, this program will support multi-function Integrated Research, Education, and/or Extension Projects and Food and Agricultural Science Enhancement (FASE) Grants applications that address one of the Program Area Priorities (see Climate Variability and Change RFA for details).