Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Great Basin CESU | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

This grant opportunity, titled "Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Great Basin CESU" (Funding Opportunity Number G14AS00066), was issued by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), specifically through the Western Geographic Science Center (WGSC). It is a discretionary funding opportunity offered as a cooperative agreement, meaning the selected recipient would be expected to work in active collaboration with USGS rather than operating entirely independently. The overall purpose of the project is to support research and methodology development that helps incorporate land use change scenarios into forecasts of future water demand, an area that sits at the intersection of land change science, water economics, and spatial modeling.

The core work described in the announcement focuses on building or improving a forecasting approach that links how land use changes over time (for example, urban expansion, agricultural shifts, energy development, or conservation-driven changes) to how much water different sectors and communities are likely to need in the future. The emphasis on "land use change scenarios" indicates the project is not just estimating current demand, but exploring plausible future pathways and translating those into water-demand outcomes. Because the work is framed as methodology development, the expectation is likely that the deliverable would include a structured analytical framework, potentially paired with prototype models, documentation, and results that USGS can use or build upon for planning, assessment, or decision-support applications.

USGS is looking for a partner with two main qualifications. First, the applicant should have strong demonstrated expertise in economics as it relates to water use and water demand, including the ability to forecast demand using geospatial modeling approaches. That combination implies the project is not purely economic or purely spatial; it requires someone who can connect economic drivers (population growth, pricing, sectoral water use behavior, technological change, policy constraints, and similar factors) with spatially explicit datasets and modeling tools. Second, the partner should understand western socio-ecological systems and how these systems connect through aquatic ecosystem services, essentially recognizing that water demand, water supply, and ecosystem conditions are interdependent. In the western United States, this often involves balancing municipal growth, irrigated agriculture, tribal and rural community needs, and ecosystem requirements under arid conditions and high climate variability, so familiarity with those real-world linkages appears to be an important part of the technical fit.

In terms of eligibility, the opportunity is limited to organizations that are already participating partners in the Great Basin Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Program. CESUs are established partnerships designed to facilitate research, technical assistance, and education collaborations between federal agencies and partner institutions. This restriction means that not every university, nonprofit, or private entity can apply; the applicant must be within the Great Basin CESU network. The announcement lists eligible applicants generally as "Others," but clarifies that eligibility is specifically tied to Great Basin CESU partnership status.

The opportunity falls under the "Science and Technology and other Research and Development" activity category, with CFDA number 15.808 (U.S. Geological Survey Research and Data Collection). The estimated total funding amount for the award is listed as $31,161. The listing shows an award ceiling and floor of $0, which typically reflects how the posting was configured rather than implying there is no funding; the estimated total funding figure is the more meaningful number for understanding scale. The opportunity also states there is no cost sharing or matching requirement, so applicants were not required to contribute non-federal matching funds as a condition of the award.

Key dates show the opportunity was posted and created on April 30, 2014, with an original and current closing date of May 9, 2014, indicating a short application window of about nine days. The archive date is July 29, 2014, meaning it is no longer an active solicitation. For applicants at the time, additional information and the full announcement were available through Grants.gov, and the listed point of contact for access issues was Faith Graves at USGS (phone 703-648-7356, email fgraves@usgs.gov).

Overall, this is a targeted, small-scale research collaboration aimed at improving how future water demand can be forecasted when land use change is explicitly considered, with an emphasis on economic rigor, spatial/geospatial modeling, and a practical understanding of western U.S. socio-ecological and ecosystem-service dynamics.

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