The Bureau of Reclamation Offers WaterSMART Applied Science Grants for Desert LCC Conservation Research

a. States and territories identified in the Reclamation Act of June 17, 1902 as amended and supplemented—specifically Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands

b. Irrigation districts, water districts, and other organizations with water or power delivery in the Western United States or Territories as identified in the Reclamation Act of June 17, 1902 as amended and supplemented—specifically Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands

c. Tribes located in the Western United States

d. Universities located in the United States;

e. Nonprofit research institutions located in the United States

f. Nonprofit organizations located in the United States

o Nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply for funding under all three funding categories if the proposal addresses fish or wildlife habitat in wetland, riparian, or aquatic areas and there is a nexus to a Reclamation project or activity.

LCCs are management-science partnerships that inform integrated resource management actions addressing climate change and other stressors within and across landscapes. LCCs bring together science and resource conservation to support and complement adaptation strategies addressing climate change and water conservation. Each LCC functions within a specific landscape, but it is also part of a national and, ultimately, international network. LCCs are true cooperatives formed and directed by land, water, wildlife, and cultural resources managers and interested public and private organizations.

Reclamation, co-lead of the Desert LCC, is providing cost-shared funding on a competitive basis for applied science projects within the Desert LCC in fiscal year (FY) 2013. The projects must be designed for use by resource managers to address natural and cultural resources issues that have a connection to water resources management in a changing climate. Where appropriate, projects also should consider Native American ancestral knowledge and frameworks of understanding on cultural landscapes that allow resource managers to integrate cultural and natural resources into landscape conservation. Projects need not be focused solely on water resources and can focus on other natural resources issues that may affect water resources management (e.g., an endangered species issue that may impact water diversions) or be affected by water resources management (e.g., riparian habitat or archeological site that may be impacted by reservoir operations).

Project categories were developed by Reclamation, with input from the Desert LCC member agencies and stakeholders. To deliver science and decision support tools that directly inform conservation design and delivery, in FY 2013 the Desert LCC Science Working Group identified and prioritized Critical Management Questions related to the Priority Science Needs identified in the Comprehensive Science Needs Assessment conducted in 2011–2012. As approved by the Desert LCC Steering Committee, the Critical Management Questions are of immediate relevance to conservation partnerships and programs within the Desert LCC region. The Steering Committee determined that focusing on a few management questions with broad relevance to conservation partners across the Desert LCC will allow the Desert LCC partners to strategically target projects that directly inform on-the-ground conservation and can be linked to measurable outcomes.

In 2013, these focused efforts will help the Desert LCC continue to define our niche within the conservation community and to develop the relationships, annual processes and systems, and capacity to successfully fill it. These Critical Management Questions include analyzing the impacts of climate change and other landscape-scale stressors to natural or cultural resources that affect or are affected by water resources management and developing tools to assess and adapt to those impacts within the boundaries of the Desert LCC. For further information on the Desert LCC and the Critical Management Questions, including a geographic map, see http: http://www.usbr.gov/WaterSMART/lcc/desert.html.