Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Desert Southwest CESU | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

This funding opportunity, titled "Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Desert Southwest CESU" (Funding Opportunity Number G16AS00074), was issued by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) under the Department of the Interior. It is a discretionary research solicitation offered through a cooperative agreement, meaning the award would typically involve substantial involvement or collaboration between USGS staff and the recipient during the project rather than functioning as a hands-off grant. The activity focus falls under science and technology and other research and development, and it is associated with CFDA number 15.808, which generally relates to U.S. Geological Survey research and data activities.

The core purpose of the project is to support research that improves understanding of how vegetation responds to environmental flow releases in the Colorado River system, with special emphasis on the Colorado River Delta in Mexico. The opportunity is framed around a major real-world management action: the spring 2014 "pulse flow" release that occurred under Minute 319, an agreement connected to the 1944 United States-Mexico water treaty. That release was historically significant because it temporarily reintroduced water into parts of the lower Colorado River channel that are normally dry, with the explicit goal of inundating the active channel and select floodplain areas in the modern delta. The broader intent behind the flow was ecological restoration and the creation or improvement of habitat, so the grant is essentially aimed at measuring and interpreting ecological responses to a rare, planned flood-like event.

From a research standpoint, the solicitation highlights two linked themes. First is "vegetation response to environmental flows," which typically includes questions such as where and when riparian plants establish after inundation, how plant communities shift following a pulse flow, and how vegetation condition changes over time in response to altered water availability. Second is the "greenup and evapotranspiration" component in the delta. "Greenup" generally refers to the timing and extent of vegetation becoming photosynthetically active (often detectable via remote sensing indices), while evapotranspiration refers to water loss from the landscape through evaporation and plant transpiration. Together, these topics point to monitoring vegetation vigor and water use after the pulse flow, potentially using field measurements, satellite imagery, and modeling approaches to estimate how much water is being consumed by restored or recovering riparian habitats and how that consumption varies across space and time.

Administratively, the opportunity anticipated a single award with a maximum funding level (award ceiling) of $34,100, indicating a small, targeted project, pilot effort, or a specific analytical deliverable rather than a large multi-year field campaign. The posting and creation dates were June 1, 2016, and the application deadline was June 17, 2016, reflecting a short submission window. Eligibility is listed broadly as "Others," with the note that applicants needed to consult the additional eligibility language in the full announcement; in CESU opportunities, eligibility often ties to participation in the relevant CESU network and may prioritize or require CESU member institutions, though the exact restriction would be defined in that referenced eligibility section.

Overall, this is a focused USGS-supported research project centered on evaluating ecological outcomes of a landmark binational environmental flow experiment in the Colorado River Delta. The work is intended to generate actionable science on vegetation recovery, landscape greening patterns, and water-use dynamics following managed inundation, information that can inform future restoration planning, environmental flow design, and cross-border river management decisions.

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