Water Conservation Field Services; Upper Colorado Region

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Reclamation provides planning funding for projects that, when implemented, will increase water reliability and improve water management through the use of expanded technologies and improved modeling capabilities, consistent with the goals of the October 19, 2018 Presidential Memorandum on Promoting the Reliable Supply and Delivery of Water in the West. For further information on the WaterSMART Program, please see www.usbr.gov/WaterSmart Eligible Projects Proposals for the development of planning studies are not eligible for funding under this FOA. This includes proposals for the development of appraisal investigations, feasibility studies, special studies, drought contingency plans, Basin Studies, or studies authorized under the Title XVI Water Recycling and Reuse Program, through Public Law (P.L).102-575, as amended (43 United States Code (USC) 390h et seq.), or under the Rural Water Program, pursuant to the Rural Water Supply Act of 2006, P.L.109-451. Proposals for on-the-ground construction activities are not eligible for funding under this FOA. However, potential on-the-ground activities identified by successful completion of a Water Conservation and Management Plan (WCMP), System Optimization Review (SOR), Design, or Demonstrating Conservation Project Technologies project described below, further engineering, construction and associated environmental compliance may be eligible for funding under WaterSMART Grants: Small-Scale Water Efficiency Projects, and Water and Energy Efficiency Grants. https://www.usbr.gov/watersmart Activities to be considered for financial assistance should address one of the following, listed in order of funding preference: (a) Water Conservation and Management Planning Help water purveyors develop written water conservation and management plans (WCMPs) that are modeled after plans described in Achieving Efficient Water Management: A Guidebook for Preparing Agricultural Water Conservation Plans, Second Edition (Guidebook, https://www.usbr.gov/uc/progact/waterconsv/pdfs/Guidebook2000.pdf ). WCMPs provide entities an opportunity to document data on current water supply and demand, prepare a forecast for future water demands, identify water conservation goals, and determine conservation measures (e.g., cost/pricing of water, water accounting, landscape efficiency, information and education, water use regulation). (b) System Optimization Review (SOR) A review to assess the potential for water management improvements and to identify a plan of action that contains recommendations for implementing specific improvements that have the potential to enhance water management. The review can include an analysis of the entire water delivery system, district, watershed, or a portion thereof. SORs are intended to take a broad look at system-wide efficiency and are not focused on single project-specific planning. The following are components of a SOR: Gather information; Identify, describe, and prioritize water management issues; Establish goals; Identify, evaluate, and prioritize potential improvement projects with the ability to mitigate the identified issues and accomplish goals. The evaluation of improvement projects could consider: the water management benefits associated with the improvement, anticipated construction and operating costs (as applicable), as well as, environmental, regulatory, cultural, and economic impacts. As part of the evaluation, efforts to better quantify the associated benefits of the proposed improvement projects are eligible subtasks (e.g., soil infiltration tests, required monitoring activities). If an applicant's previous planning efforts have addressed some of the components above, the applicant can propose funding for the remaining components for a complete system analysis. The SOR Final Report will serve as the final product of the SOR analysis and will summarize the analysis performed. SORs allow an entity to assess their system with an efficiency focus; issues determined from the system analysis inform the identification and selection of potential improvement projects (e.g., Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and automation to reduce specific issues such as spills, over-deliveries, and seepage). (c) Designing Water Management Improvements (Designs) Design of improvement projects such as pipelines, canal lining, water measurement structures, or other water management improvement projects. Upon completion of prior planning efforts (e.g., WCMP, SOR) to identify alternatives/solutions for water management issues, this activity provides for funding to design the preferred alternative. This activity includes the necessary preliminary work in preparation of the design such as surveying and gathering pertinent site-specific information (e.g., hydraulic head available at site, soil testing, and determining groundwater level). Eligible subtasks under this activity also include peer-review for the design, development of a cost estimate, and identification of necessary regulatory requirements (i.e., permits). Land/title acquisition, and environmental/cultural resources compliance work is not eligible under this activity. Examples of eligible design activities include, but are not limited to: Design for conversion of an open conveyance system (e.g., canal) to a closed conveyance system (e.g., pipeline) resulting in conserved water (i.e., reduced evaporation). Design for lining of canal with proven materials or technology resulting in conserved water (i.e., reduced/eliminating seepage). Design of weirs, flumes, ramps, and other irrigation flow measurement devices in an open channel. Design of control structures for an irrigation system (e.g., check structures, drop structures, division structures). Design for installation of meters within a distribution system resulting in water better managed (i.e., leakage quantification). Design for system implementation of SCADA and automation components intended to result in water better managed (i.e., reduced spills, over-deliveries, and seepage). Design of irrigation system regulating reservoirs for better management of water supply (i.e., reduced spills, more flexibility in water delivery operations, excess water interception at end of system). (d) Demonstrating Conservation Project Technologies Demonstration activities are those that include the installation or application of a particular technology in a new way, or in a new setting, with the intent of reporting the results to others for wider adoption. The activities should demonstrate innovative technologies in water conservation to increase technical understanding of unfamiliar water management and practices that have been previously used locally.