FUNDING OPPORTUNITY: IWC’s 104(b) competition

At long last, the Iowa Water Center has released the request for proposals for the 2016 104(b) seed grant competition. Proposals are due November 16, 2015. This year, there are two programs for which to apply:

Seed Grant Water Research Competition

Funding of up to $30,000 for one year is available for researchers at one of Iowa’s accredited public or private universities or community colleges. Multiple year projects will be considered for the seed grant water research competition, but continued funding for subsequent years is subject to the availability of funds and progress made in the first year. The proposal must indicate what results/products can be achieved in each individual project year. Subsequent year funding is not guaranteed. Researchers seeking second-year funding must resubmit their proposal showing a new budget and progress made.

Priority will be given to projects that show potential for attracting additional grant money from state, federal, and other sources to support the research program. If funded, two short but required reports must be completed during the project year as a USGS requirement. The Iowa Water Center will also request a fact sheet from your work and a contribution to the Iowa Water Conference in the form of a poster or presentation.

In subsequent years, the Iowa Water Center will contact investigators to survey future impacts resulting from the seed grant funding, including “follow-on funding” and partnerships made as a result of grant activities.

The Iowa Water Center anticipates funding one seed grant in 2016.

Graduate Student Supplemental Research Competition

Funding of up to $5,000 for one year is available to graduate students nearing completion of their program of study. This program is designed to allow students to complete additional research objectives or products beyond the scope of their current water related funded project. The proposed budget must also include funds for publication costs; students will be encouraged to submit their research to peer-reviewed publications. Iowa Water Center staff will be available to help facilitate such submissions.

The Iowa Water Center anticipates funding two graduate student supplemental grants in 2016.

Priority Area for 2016: nutrients

This year’s focus will be on nutrients and their impact on Iowa’s waters and water management decisions. Excess nutrients in Iowa’s waters contribute to significant water quality issues, both locally and downstream. Public awareness of nutrient-related water quality issues is rising along with pressure on legislative bodies to address nutrient management issues through regulation.

Nutrients in water is a broad topic that may encompass any of the following areas related to excess nutrients in surface and ground water:

  • land use implications
  • tile drainage management
  • sedimentation and phosphorus loss
  • eutrophication
  • water quality monitoring

If you have any questions about this program, please contact Melissa Miller.

FUNDING ANNOUNCEMENT: 104(g) National Competitive Grants

The 104(g) National Competitive Grants program is one of three grant programs administered annually by the Iowa Water Center in coordination with the National Institutes for Water Resources (NIWR).

Funding alert – the National Institutes for Water Resources in conjunction with the US Geological Survey has issued their call for proposals for the 2015 104(g) National Competitive Grants program.

Here’s the scoop…

Proposal URL (<——CLICK ME!)
Due Date: February 19, 2015
Submit to: niwr.net (hint: you have to create a log-in to get submit, so you may want to get in the system sooner rather than later to play around)
Award maximum and duration: 1-3 years, $250,000 maximum.
Scope: Proposals must focus on “water problems and issues of a regional or interstate nature”. Collaboration between organizations and agencies (particularly USGS) are highly encouraged and USGS partnerships receive extra weight in evaluation.

2015 Priorities:

  • Evaluation of innovative approaches to water treatment, infrastructure design,  retrofitting, maintenance, management and replacement.
  • Exploration and advancement of our understanding of changes in the quantity and quality of water resources in response to a changing climate, population shifts, and land use changes; including associate economic, environmental, social, and/or infrastructure costs.
  • Development of methods for better estimation of water supply, both surface and groundwater, including estimation of the physical supply and of the economic supply of water.
  • Development and evaluation of processes and governance mechanisms for integrated surface/groundwater management.
  • Evaluation and assessment of the effects of water conservation practices, as well as adoption, penetration and permanence.

Other interesting information:

Iowa has seen some success with getting proposals in this competition funded in the past few years, most recently a project in 2014 from University of Iowa PI Dr. Gabriele Villarini.

The Iowa Water Center reviews all proposals after they have been submitted and must approve them in order for them to be considered by the selection committee. While your application SHOULD be complete at the February deadline, if there are any changes needed, IWC staff will be in touch before final approval.

Have any questions? Just send a message to Melissa Miller and we’ll get it taken care of!

ONGOING RESEARCH – BLACK HAWK LAKE WATERSHED

By Catherine DeLong

In July of this year a grant was awarded to a group of Iowa State University researchers to study the long term impact of land management practices on the Black Hawk Lake Watershed. The goal of the research team, which includes Michelle Lynn Soupir, Matt Helmers, Amy Kaleita, Leigh Ann Long and Carl Pederson, is to assess the impact of conservation practices on water quality.

Black Hawk Lake occupies 957 acres in Sac County, and its watershed drains an area of 13,156 acres. The lake has been declared an impaired waterway by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) mainly due to the excess sediment that clouds the water. This excess sediment has transported phosphorus into the lake, which in turn has caused algal blooms to appear and compromise the waterway. A Watershed Management Plan was enacted several years ago in order to combat rising phosphorus levels. The management plan has put into action various conservation practices, such as cover crops, terraces and filter strips. The grant awarded to Iowa State University researchers will be used to monitor the outcomes of these conservation efforts.

Three automated monitors have been placed across the watershed to collect water samples. The monitors will notify the researchers, via cellphone, as soon as a runoff event has occurred. Once the samples have been gathered they will be sampled for phosphorus, nitrogen and suspended solids.

The $461,661 grant, awarded by the IDNR, is for five years. As Assistant Professor Michelle Lynn Soupir explains, “[t]here’s a lag time between when you implement land use practices and when you start to see water quality improvement. We need a better understanding of that lag time, and five years of data will help fill in some of those gaps.” Most studies of this nature are only allotted 1 to 3 years to complete their work.