Bureau of Land Management Opens $5M for Oregon/Washington (ORWA) Aquatic Resource Management
Announcement Type: Notice of Funding Opportunity
Opportunity: FY24 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Oregon/Washington (ORWA) Aquatic Resource Management
Overview and Eligible Uses: The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) ORWA Aquatic Resources Program protects and restores riparian and wetland areas, aquatic habitats, and water resources to provide functioning ecosystems fora. combination of balanced and diverse uses including fish and wildlife, and for the long-term needs of future generations. This program supports projects funded through the IIJA, Section 40804 (b) Ecosystem Restoration, and through the IRA, Sections 50221 Resilience, 50222 Ecosystems Restoration, and 50303 DOI.
The Aquatic Resources Program conserves and restores aquatic resources on BLM-managed lands and ensures that water is available for a combination of balanced and diverse uses. Healthy riparian-wetland areas, fisheries, watersheds, riverscapes, and water supplies provide the resource values and ecosystem services that the BLM needs to achieve the agency’s multiple use and sustained yield mandate.
The BLM ORWAR Aquatic Resources Program’s core functions include:
Decision support: inventory, assess, and monitor aquatic resources to inform our understanding of condition and trend, guide the BLM’s management activities, and assess regulatory compliance
Protection: maintain and protect the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of aquatic resources
Restoration: restore aquatic resources affected by the past and present impacts, aquatic invasive species, wildfire, drought, and floods; increase their resistance, resilience, and adaptability to the impacts of climate change
Water resources sustainability: identify the quantity and quality of water required to conserve and restore riparian and wetland areas and aquatic habitats, and secure water rights and protections, so sufficient water is physically and legally available for all public land management purposes
Environmental compliance: ensure full compliance with applicable federal law, executive orders, regulations, and policy and with state laws where such compliance does not conflict with federal law mandates
Collaboration: coordinate, cooperate, and consult with federal, state, tribal, and local governments and other programs, partners, and communities, to foster adaptive approaches to conservation and restoration and implement education and outreach programs
This funding opportunity has three goals:
Ensuring water availability to sustain healthy riparian and wetland areas and aquatic habitats,
Restoring degraded water resources, riparian and wetland areas, and aquatic habitats, with a focus on process-based approaches and promoting riverscape health, and
Advancing decision support models, and the inventory, assessment, and monitoring information that feeds such models, to inform the protection of remaining high quality habitats and the strategic restoration of degraded systems.
Amount: The Bureau of Land Management anticipates funding 10 awards, ranging from $10K to $500K, for a total of up to $5M.
Award Type: Cooperative Agreements
Eligible Applicants: State governments, county governments, city or township governments, special district governments, independent school districts, public and state controlled institutions of higher education, federally recognized tribal governments, public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments), nonprofits (with or without 501(c)(3) status) excluding institutions of higher education, and private institutions of higher education.
Key Dates: Applications will open on November 1, 2023 and must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. ET on February 29, 2024. Projects funded will start once funding is secured and awards issued.
Key Links:
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