"Researching Impacts and Data Gaps Associated with Harmful Algal Blooms in Freshwater Lakes and Reservoirs" | W81EWF 23 SOI 0018

Opportunity Information: Apply for W81EWF 23 SOI 0018

The Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is seeking a university partner to form an interdisciplinary collaboration focused on harmful algal blooms (HABs) in freshwater lakes and reservoirs. The central aim is to improve understanding of how HAB events are reported, what challenges exist in that reporting process, what the real-world impacts look like across different water bodies and stakeholders, and where the major data gaps are that prevent consistent decision-making. The award is structured as a cooperative agreement, meaning USACE expects to be actively involved in shaping and coordinating the work rather than simply providing funds for an independent study.

At a high level, the project is designed to use rigorous social science methods to build better information tools around HAB impacts and HAB event reporting. The work is not just about documenting blooms as environmental phenomena; it is specifically about capturing the human, operational, and economic consequences that occur when blooms happen and when agencies respond. This includes impacts such as beach or recreation closures, public health or water treatment advisories, increased sampling and laboratory costs, treatment or mitigation expenses, and staff time devoted to monitoring, communication, and response. The expectation is that the project will translate these impacts into structured, defensible questions and survey instruments that can be used consistently across locations and organizations.

The opportunity lays out three main technical thrusts. First, the university partner is expected to develop a set of questions, built through scientifically defensible social science methodology, that can reliably capture the range of HAB-related impacts in lakes and reservoirs. This implies careful attention to survey design fundamentals such as clarity, validity, minimizing bias, ensuring questions are interpretable across jurisdictions, and making sure the resulting data can be compared and analyzed. Second, the partner will develop a separate (but related) set of questions focused on HAB event reporting itself: where blooms are occurring, when they start, how long they last, what indicators trigger reporting, what actions are taken in response, and how reporting is currently handled across agencies and programs. Those responses are then meant to feed into a practical HAB event reporting template, essentially a standardized format that can help harmonize reporting details and improve data completeness. Third, the project will compile and interpret results from the new questionnaires and also leverage previous questionnaire efforts, then produce one or more technical reports (or similar dissemination products) to share findings with relevant audiences.

USACE emphasizes that strong proposals will be explicit and organized around clear technical objectives and data quality objectives. In practice, that means applicants should clearly state the specific questions the project will answer, explain exactly what tasks will be performed to answer them, and identify what data are needed, from whom, and at what level of detail or reliability. The agency also wants proposers to outline deliverables by task and by year, suggesting a multi-year work plan with defined outputs at each stage rather than a single end-of-project report. Another key preference is to maximize use of existing federal and state HAB programs, activities, and datasets, rather than rebuilding parallel systems. Proposals that show awareness of the current HAB monitoring and reporting landscape and that can integrate with established efforts are positioned as more competitive.

A notable feature of the solicitation is the emphasis on accountability and decision structure. Applicants are encouraged to define both quantitative and qualitative success criteria for each task and objective, so that progress can be measured in concrete terms (for example, response rates, representativeness of respondents, completeness of reporting fields, inter-rater consistency in coding open-ended responses, or demonstrated utility of the reporting template in pilot contexts). The opportunity also encourages proposers to include annual go/no-go decision points, implying that USACE is interested in stage-gated project management where each year ends with a clear assessment of whether the approach is working and whether the next phase should proceed, pivot, or stop.

In terms of administrative details, this is a discretionary funding opportunity under the Science and Technology and other Research and Development category (CFDA 12.630). The opportunity number is W81EWF 23 SOI 0018. USACE anticipates making a single award, with an award ceiling of $300,000. The original posting indicates a creation date of June 13, 2023 and an original closing date of August 4, 2023. Eligibility is listed broadly as "Others," with additional clarification typically provided in the full eligibility text, but the narrative clearly signals the intended partner type is a university.

Overall, the grant is aimed at producing practical, defensible tools and syntheses that help agencies better capture the impacts of HABs and standardize how HAB events are reported across freshwater systems. The expected end products are not just academic insights, but usable questionnaires, a reporting template informed by stakeholder input, and technical reporting that interprets the results in a way that can improve future monitoring, response planning, and resource allocation.

• The Department of Defense, Dept. of the Army -- Corps of Engineers in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled ""Researching Impacts and Data Gaps Associated with Harmful Algal Blooms in Freshwater Lakes and Reservoirs"" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.630.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 13, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 04, 2023. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $300,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for W81EWF 23 SOI 0018

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