Department of the Interior’s Water Conservation Field Services Program: Funding for Water Conservation Projects (2020-2021)

The Department of the Interior’s (DOI) WaterSMART (Sustain and Manage America’s Resources for Tomorrow) Program provides a framework for Federal leadership and assistance to stretch and secure water supplies for future generations in support of DOI priorities. Through WaterSMART, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) leverages Federal and non-Federal funding to work cooperatively with states, tribes, and local entities as they plan for and implement actions to increase water supply reliability through investments in existing infrastructure and attention to addressing local water conflicts. WaterSMART provides support for the DOIs priorities, including creating a legacy of conservation stewardship, sustainably developing our energy and natural resources, modernizing our infrastructure through public-private partnerships, striking a regulatory balance, and restoring trust with local communities by improving relationships and communication with states, tribes, local governments, communities, landowners and water users. WaterSMART also supports Reclamation’s priorities, including increasing water supplies, leveraging science and technology to improve water supply reliability, addressing ongoing drought, and improving water supplies for tribal and rural communities.

Reclamation established the Water Conservation Field Services Program (WCFSP) in 1996 to encourage recipients of water from Federal water projects to conserve water and to assist agricultural and urban water districts in preparing and implementing water conservation plans in accordance with the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (RRA). Through the WCFSP, Reclamation makes cost-shared financial assistance available for developing water conservation plans, designing water management improvements, identifying water management improvements through System Optimization Reviews (SOR), and improving the understanding of water conservation techniques through demonstration activities.

Through this FOA, Reclamation provides planning funding for projects that, when implemented, will increase water reliability and improve water management through the use of expanded technologies and improved modeling capabilities, consistent with the goals of the October 19, 2018 Presidential Memorandum on Promoting the Reliable Supply and Delivery of Water in the West.

For further information on the WaterSMART Program, please see www.usbr.gov/watersmart/.

Objective of this Funding Opportunity Announcement

The objective of this FOA is to invite eligible applicants located in the geographic area covered by Reclamation’s Columbia-Pacific Northwest Region to leverage their money and resources by cost-sharing water conservation planning with Reclamation to make more efficient use of existing water supplies.