WaterSMART: Desalination Construction Projects Under the WIIN Act (Select States) - FY 2023/2024
Agency: | U.S. Department of Interior |
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CFDA: | 15.504 |
Federal FON: | R23AS00465 |
Office: | Bureau of Reclamation Water Resources and Planning Office |
Multipart Grant: | No |
Next Due: | 09/30/2024 (Multiple) |
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Solicitation Date: | 09/28/2023 |
Match Required: | Yes |
Match Type: | Cash/In-Kind |
Actual Funds: | Unspecified |
Range: | $52,000,000 (Max) |
Award Range: | $30,000,000 (Max) |
Summary:
The purpose of this program is to support the planning, design, and/or construction of desalination projects that will develop and supplement municipal and irrigation water supplies through the treatment of ocean or brackish water, thereby providing a local supply and flexibility during water shortages, and diversifying the water supply portfolio. This program is intended to provide growing communities with new sources of clean water and increase water management flexibility, making the nation's water supply more reliable.
Projects must meet the following requirements:
- Have a completed feasibility study that has been submitted to and approved by the funding agency
- Be included in a state-approved plan, or have federal participation for the project requested by the governor of the state in which the project is located
Projects must be constructed, operated, and maintained by the applicant, or be sponsored by the applicant. To sponsor a project, the applicant must contribute funding for a substantial portion of the capital construction costs of the project within the project period.
Eligible costs include personnel costs, fringe benefits, travel, equipment, supplies and materials, contractual costs, construction costs, and limited indirect costs. Eligible costs may also include pre-award costs, with prior funding agency approval.
An optional webinar is scheduled for this program. Refer to the Application section for details.
Eligibility is limited to applicants located in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, or Wyoming.
Last Updated: February 12, 2024
Eligibility Notes:
Eligible applicants are state or local sponsors of seawater or brackish water desalination projects, including:
- State
- Indian tribes
- Municipalities, irrigation districts, water districts, and wastewater districts
- State, regional, or other organizations with water or power delivery authority
Applicants and projects must be located in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, or Wyoming.
To be eligible, applicants must have a completed feasibility study. Feasibility studies must be submitted and approved by the funding agency by the following dates:
- Submitted by November 7, 2023, and approved by February 7, 2024, for applications received by December 7, 2023
- Submitted by August 30, 2024, and approved by November 29, 2024, for applications received by September 30, 2024
Projects must be constructed, operated, and maintained by an eligible applicant; or the project must be sponsored by an eligible applicant. To sponsor a project, the eligible applicant must contribute funding for a substantial portion of the project's capital construction costs.
Applicants may submit multiple applications, as long as each project is unique and projects are not duplicative.
Eligible Applicants:
Local GovernmentNative American Tribe
State Government
Application Notes:
Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis, with the following cut-off dates:
- 4:00 p.m. MT on December 7, 2023
- 4:00 p.m. MT on September 30, 2024
Applications must be submitted online at www.ecivis.com/grants.gov, or mailed or delivered to the appropriate address provided. If submitting paper applications, applicants must email the appropriate address provided in the Contact section no later than 2:00 p.m. MT on each respective due date. The funding agency strongly encourages the online submission of applications. Emailed and faxed applications will not be accepted.
Applications must include:
- SF 424
- SF 424A
- SF 424B
- SF LLL (if applicable)
- Technical proposal (40 pages max)
- Project budget
- Environmental and cultural resources compliance
- Required permits or approvals
- Overlap or duplication of effort statement
- Conflict of interest disclosure
- Uniform audit reporting statement (if applicable)
- Letters of support
- Official resolution
- Letters of funding commitment
Applications are limited to 125 consecutively numbered pages. Applications must be formatted on standard-sized pages using one-inch margins, and using at least a 12-point, easily readable font. Oversized pages will not be accepted. Hard-copy applications may only be bound with a binder clip; staples or other bindings may 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 (33 points)
- Environment and water quality (15 points)
- Economic benefits (22 points)
- Presidential and Department of the Interior priorities (15 points)
- Funding agency's obligations and watershed perspective (10 points)
- Leveraging state funding and experience of international partners (5 points)
Refer to the NOFA and Guide files for additional application information.
Match Required: | Yes |
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Match Type: | Cash/In-Kind |
Actual Funds: | Unspecified |
Range: | $52,000,000 (Max) |
Award Range: | $30,000,000 (Max) |
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Match Notes:
Applicants must provide at least 75 percent of the total project costs via cash and/or in-kind matching contributions.
Projects that leverage state funding for research and development of desalination technologies and projects will be awarded additional points during the application evaluation process.
Funding from sources outside of the applicant's organization should be secured and available prior to the award.
Projects must be constructed, operated, and maintained by the applicant, or be sponsored by the applicant. To sponsor a project, the applicant must contribute funding for a substantial portion of the capital construction costs of the project within the project period.
In general, federal funds may not be used as a match, unless specifically permitted by federal statute.
The cost or value of third-party in-kind contributions that have been used, or will be relied on, to satisfy a cost-sharing or matching requirement for another federal award may not be used as a match.
Funding Notes:
Up to $52 million is expected to be available to support up to ten grants or cooperative agreements of up to $30 million through this program.
In addition to monetary awards, this program may provide technical assistance at the request of the award recipient; however, technical assistance costs must be accounted for in the budget.
Award notifications and awards are expected to be issued as follows:
- For applications received by December 7, 2023, award notifications will be issued in May 2024, and awards in September 2024
- For applications received by September 30, 2024, award notifications will be issued in April 2025, and awards in September 2025
Project periods will span up to three years. For applications received by December 7, 2023, project periods will end in December 2026; and for applications received by September 30, 2024, project periods will end in November 2027.
Pre-award costs will only be allowed with funding agency approval, as detailed on page 36 of the NOFA file.
Funds may not be used for:
- Lobbying
- Ground-disturbing activities prior to completion of environmental and cultural resource compliance
- Projects that reclaim or reuse municipal, industrial, domestic, or agricultural wastewater
- Desalination projects that include water recycling components, such as municipal, industrial, or agricultural wastewater reuse, or treatment of impaired water supplies where primary targeted contaminants for removal are not brackish or ocean water
- Projects that do not have a completed feasibility study
- Projects that are not constructed, operated, and maintained by the applicant and do not include a substantial financial contribution to capital construction costs by the applicant during the project period
- Lab-scale research, piloting, or demonstration research focused on the development and commercialization of new advanced water treatment technology
- 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
Refer to pages 21-23 of the NOFA file for additional information regarding unallowable costs.
Contacts:
Financial Assistance Administrative Contact:
Chandrika Nasstrom
cnasstrom@usbr.gov
Primary Contact:
Maribeth Menendez
Program Coordinator
(303) 445-2094
mmenendez@usbr.gov
Other Express Delivery and Courier Service Address
Bureau of Reclamation Mail Services
Attn: Water Resources and Planning Office
Denver Federal Center
Bldg. 67, Rm. 152
6th Avenue and Kipling Street
Denver, CO 80225
Mailing and Overnight Service Address
Bureau of Reclamation
Attn: Water Resources and Planning Office
P.O. Box 25007, MS 86-63000
Denver, CO 80225
Contact Notes:
Questions should be directed to the appropriate program contact, with "R23AS00465" in the subject line.
Applications must be submitted online at www.ecivis.com/grants.gov, or mailed or delivered to the appropriate address provided. If submitting paper applications, applicants must email Chandrika Nasstrom no later than 2:00 p.m. MT on each respective due date.
Files:
Other Pre-Award File: US16120_Budget_FY2023-24.zip (335.9 Kb)Guide File: US16120_Guide_FY2023-24.pdf (256.0 Kb)
NOFA File: US16120_NOFA_FY2023-24.pdf (1.4 Mb)
Other Pre-Award File: US16120_Webinar_FY2023-24.pdf (151.0 Kb)
Other Pre-Award File: US16120_ApplicationUpdate_FY2023-24.pdf (274.2 Kb)
Federal Forms:
SF 424 (144.4 Kb)SF 424B (64.2 Kb)
SPOC (67.7 Kb)
SF LLL (98.7 Kb)
File Notes:
The NOFA file contains the full solicitation for this program. The Guide file contains additional application instructions. The Budget folder contains the required budget form, as well as detailed guidance on the submission of budget narrative. The Webinar file contains information regarding an optional webinar scheduled for this program. The ApplicationUpdate file contains an announcement regarding updated required forms for the application. The attached federal forms may be used if submitting a hard-copy application. The SPOC file contains information on the state Single Point of Contact program.
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.
Grant Keywords
WaterSMART, Desalination Construction Projects Under the WIIN Act, WIIN Act, DOI, Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation Policy and Administration, Reclamation Act, ocean water, brackish water, desalination, planning, design, construction, water resource, infrastructure, critical infrastructure, economic growth, economic health, competitiveness, municipal water, irrigation water, water supply, local supply, water shortage, water supply portfolio, water treatment, drought, water management, clean water, drinking water, pipe, piping, plumbing, potable water, reclamation, source water, water demand, water infrastructure, water quality, city planning, civic, infrastructure development, municipal improvement, construct, waterway, creek, estuaries, estuarine, estuary, lake, river, stream, tributaries, tributary, water, waterbodies, waterbody, watershed, wetland, facilities, facility, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, Desalination Construction Projects Under the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act, drought resilience, climate change, water source, brackish water desalination, Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act, tribe, tribalGrant Categories
Community DevelopmentEconomic Development
Recycling & Reuse
Wastewater
Water Supply/Quality