Application Notes:

Prior to submitting an application, applicants planning to receive technical assistance from the funding agency after award of the project must contact Maribeth Menendez, using the information provided in the Contact section, to discuss available assistance and associated costs.

Applications must be submitted by the following deadlines:

• First application submittal period: applications must be submitted by 4:00 p.m. MT on December 7, 2023
• Second application submittal period: applications must be submitted by 4:00 p.m. MT on September 30, 2024

Applications must be submitted online at www.ecivis.com/grants.gov (strongly encouraged) or mailed or delivered to the appropriate address provided in the Contact section. Applicants submitting a hard-copy application must contact Chandrika Nasstrom, using the information provided in the Contact section, for approval no later than 2:00 p.m. MT on the respective closing date. Faxed or emailed applications will not be accepted.

Applications must include:

• SF 424
• SF 424A
• SF 424B
• Technical proposal (40 pages max)
• Budget narrative
• Environmental and cultural resources compliance (recommended)
• Required permits or approvals (recommended)
• Overlap or duplication of effort statement (recommended)
• Conflict of interest disclosure statement (recommended)
• Uniform audit reporting statement (recommended)
• SF LLL (if applicable)
• Letters of support (recommended)

The entire application, including attachments, may not exceed 125 pages. Applications must be formatted on standard-sized, consecutively numbered pages with standard one-inch margins and must use an easily readable font no smaller than 12-point. Hard-copy applications should be bound only with a binder clip; staples or other binding should not be used.

The following are required in order to submit an application:

• Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number
• SAM (System for Award Management) registration
• SPOC (state Single Point of Contact) notification

Applicants may obtain a UEI number and verify or renew SAM registration status at www.ecivis.com/sam. Applicants in states participating in the SPOC program must contact the relevant SPOC listed in the SPOC file before applying.

An optional webinar for this program is scheduled as follows:

October 25, 2023
11:00 a.m. MT
URL: teams.microsoft.com

Applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

• Water supply (35 points)
• Environment and water quality (15 points)
• Economic benefits (25 points)
• Presidential and Department of Interior priorities (15 points)
• Funding agency obligations and watershed perspective (10 points)

Refer to the NOFA file for additional application information.

Match Notes:

In general, applicants must provide at least 75 percent of the total project costs via cash, costs contributed by the applicant, or third-party in-kind contributions. Applicants in American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands are exempt from the matching requirement.

Third-party in-kind contributions may be in the form of equipment, supplies, and other expendable property, as well as the value of services directly benefiting and specifically identifiable to the proposed project. The cost or value of third-party in-kind contributions that have been or will be relied on to satisfy the matching requirement of another federal program may not be counted toward the matching requirement.

In general, other sources of federal funds may not be counted toward the matching requirement. The exception to this requirement is where the federal statute authorizing a program specifically provides that federal funds made available for such program can be applied to the matching requirements of other federal programs.

Funding Notes:

Up to $179 million is available through this program to support up to 30 grants or cooperative agreements, for both application submittal periods, of up to $30 million each.

By request, the funding agency may also provide technical assistance after award of the project. Applicants planning to receive technical assistance must account for these costs in their budget.

For the first application submittal period, award announcements are expected to be made in May 2024, awards are expected to be issued in September 2024, and projects are expected to be completed in December 2026. For the second application submittal period, award announcements are expected to be made in April 2025, awards are expected to be issued in September 2025, and projects are expected to be completed in November 2027. Costs must be incurred after the date of the funding agency's feasibility determination and within three years from the application deadline for each application submittal period.

Eligible pre-award costs associated with the proposed project must be incurred after the date of the funding agency's feasibility study review findings. Such costs are allowable only to the extent that they would have been allowable if incurred after the date of the award.

Funds may not be used for:

• Water recycling projects that do not have a completed feasibility study that includes the information required by the Reclamation Manual Directives and Standards WTR 11-01 that has been submitted to the funding agency by November 7, 2023, for applications submitted under the first application submittal period, and by August 31, 2023, for applications submitted under the second application submittal period
• Water recycling projects that have completed a feasibility study but that the funding agency has determined did not meet the requirements of the Reclamation Manual Directives and Standards WTR 11-01
• Development of water recycling feasibility studies to meet the requirements of the Reclamation Manual Directives and Standards WTR 11-01
• Water reclamation projects that are solely ocean or brackish water desalination
• Projects that have a project-specific congressional authorization
• Projects that have already received funding under the WaterSMART Drought Response Program
• Operations, maintenance, and replacement (OM&R) activities
• Lobbying activities
• Application preparation and submission costs

For FY 2022, over $310 million was distributed via 25 awards ranging from $1,080,224 to $2.83 million through this program. Refer to the Award file for details.

February 12, 2024
An announcement regarding updated required forms for the application has been released and attached as the ApplicationUpdate file. The Application section has been updated accordingly.

October 13, 2023
Information regarding an optional webinar scheduled for this program has been released and attached as the Webinar file. The Application section has been updated accordingly.