Application Notes:

Applications must be received by 4:00 p.m. ET on January 16, 2025.

The program officer confirmed the application deadline for this program.

Applications must be submitted online at www.ecivis.com/grants.gov.

Applications must include:

• SF 424
• SF 424A
• SF 424B
• SF 424D (if applicable)
• Project narrative, including:
  • Proposal information summary
  • Proposal (20 pages max)
  • Overall project budget
  • Detailed budget for each objective
  • Timeline for each objective
  • Data management plan
  • Staff qualifications
  • Supporting letters
  • Proposal checklist
• Detailed budget narrative
• Indirect cost statement and applicable documentation (as applicable)
• Conflict of interest disclosure
• Single audit reporting statement
• Certification regarding lobbying
• SF LLL
• Overlap or duplication of effort statement

Applications must be submitted on standard-sized, numbered pages with one-inch margins. The proposal section must be formatted on single-spaced pages using 12-point font, and must be submitted as a single, combined .pdf file.

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.

Optional webinars for this program are scheduled as follows:

October 16, 2024
1:00 p.m. ET
Registration: teams.microsoft.com

November 13, 2024
3:00 p.m. ET
Registration: teams.microsoft.com

December 13, 2024
1:00 p.m. ET
Registration: teams.microsoft.com

Recordings of the webinars will be made available online at cida.usgs.gov/ngwmn/splash.

Applications will be evaluated using the following criteria:

• Proposal quality (10 points)
• Relevance (10 points)
• Technical quality (10 points)
• Budget (10 points)

Refer to the NOFA file, as well as the Application folder, for additional application information.

Match Notes:

Matching funds are not required for this program; however, the funding agency suggests applicants provide 25 percent match via in-kind contributions for objectives 4, 5, and 6. Applicants that do not provide at least 25 percent match for these objectives will receive fewer points in the evaluation process for these objectives. In-kind matching contributions are not required or requested for objectives 1, 2, and 3.

Costs for equipment, other than cables, that exceed the limits for objective 6 detailed on page 11 of the NOFA file may be used as in-kind services match. Funding for cell service or satellite service fees to obtain telemetered data may also be included as in-kind services under this objective.

Cost share should be provided separately for each objective.

Examples of eligible match include:

• Salaries
• Contracts for project work
• Contractual support
• Travel expenses
• Software purchases
• Equipment or supplies used for the project
• Indirect costs or overhead charges
• Agency activities related to operation and maintenance of NGWMN sites that are a part of the current local agency network
• Work to perform quality assurance of data at NGWMN
• Volunteer services furnished by professional and technical personnel, consultants, and other skilled and unskilled labor
• Third-party in-kind services

Refer to pages 13-14 of the NOFA file for additional guidelines regarding matching contributions.

Funding Notes:

An estimated $1.7 million is available to support an anticipated 20 to 30 cooperative agreements of at least $5,000 through this program. Awards may be for up to $150,000 for one-year projects or up to $300,000 for two-year projects; however, awards for routine work under objective 2A to maintain persistent data services are limited to $20,000 per year, except for agencies serving more than 500 sites, which can apply for up to $40,000 per year for objective 2A work.

Awards are anticipated to be made on July 1, 2025.

All projects should propose start dates between July 1, 2025, and September 30, 2025. Applicants may propose project periods of one year or two years. Extensions require prior written approval.

Generally, funds may not be used for water level monitoring or water quality data collection; however, under objectives 5 and 6, award recipients may purchase monitoring equipment or supplies, limited to continuous water level monitoring equipment.

Under objective 6, equipment purchases are limited to $2,000 per well for sites without telemetry equipment. For sites adding telemetry, the limit is $4,000 per well. Cell service costs and satellite service fees to obtain telemetered data are not eligible for funding under this objective.

Travel costs are not supported for work under objectives 1 or 2.

Funds may not be used for work to become a new data provider under objectives 4, 5, or 6.

Under objective 4, funds may not be used for:

• Landscaping or brush clearing to improve site access
• Construction of pathways to improve site access

The following projects are ineligible for consideration:

• Projects principally involving the direct procurement of a product, equipment, or service
• Projects that contract with the funding agency or other federal agencies to perform work on the project

Funds may not be used for:

• Purchasing software or software maintenance license fees that are used for routine processing of water level or water quality data
• Purchasing software to be used as a database to store agency data
• Upgrading data to a new database system
• Collecting routine water level or water quality data
• Performing quality assurance work on routinely collected water level or water quality data
• Purchasing or leasing vehicles to be used to support routine data collection efforts
• Purchasing equipment or supplies for water quality sampling
• Purchasing downhole cameras
• Purchasing geophysical logging equipment or supplies
• Purchasing GPS equipment
• Developing new agency databases
• Purchasing land or obtaining easements for site access
• Pre-award costs
• Lobbying

For FY 2024, 11 awards were distributed through this program. For FY 2023, 18 awards were distributed. For FY 2022, 18 awards were distributed. Refer to the Award file for details.

November 6, 2024
A recording of a webinar for this program has been released, and a link to the presentation is available in the Application section.

October 18, 2024
Information concerning the changing of the date for the December 11, 2024, webinar has been released and attached as the WebinarUpdate file. The Application section has been updated accordingly.

October 11, 2024
Full solicitation information for this program has been released and attached as the NOFA file. All sections have been updated accordingly.