Budget_examples_2026.zip

This is a budget examples file (Budget_examples_2026.zip) supporting the Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program's National Ground-Water Monitoring Network cooperative agreement opportunity administered by the U.S. Geological Survey. The funding opportunity provides up to $900,000 in total Federal FY2026 appropriations to support data providers connecting to or maintaining the National Ground-Water Monitoring Network. Individual applications are capped at $150,000 for one-year projects or $300,000 for two-year projects, with routine maintenance work under Objective 2A limited to $20,000 annually ($40,000 annually for agencies serving more than 500 sites). Eligible applicants include states, federally recognized Native American Tribal governments, and local water-resource agencies that collect groundwater data. Applications must be submitted through Grants.gov using Standard Form 424, with the application window running from mid-September 2025 through mid-January 2026. Award notification occurs through receipt of a cooperative agreement from a USGS contracting officer, and all project work must be completed within a two-year cycle from the award start date.

Proposals are evaluated on four criteria—Proposal Quality, Relevance, Technical Quality, and Budget—with scores of 1 to 10 assigned for each criterion by the NGWMN Program Board, which makes funding recommendations to the USGS. The program is subject to 2 CFR Part 200 and Department of the Interior regulations (2 CFR Part 1402), and all records must be maintained for three years after final financial report submission. The legal authority derives from Public Law 111-11, Section 9507 and amendments from Public Law 118-174. Coordination among multiple agencies within a state is strongly encouraged, and interested applicants are advised to discuss funding availability and program interest with USGS prior to submission due to limited funding availability for new projects.