Enhanced Acoustic Tagging, Analysis, and Real-Time Monitoring of Wild and Hatchery Salmonids in the Sacramento River Valley | BOR MP 18 N008

Opportunity Information: Apply for BOR MP 18 N008

The grant opportunity titled "Enhanced Acoustic Tagging, Analysis, and Real-Time Monitoring of Wild and Hatchery Salmonids in the Sacramento River Valley" is a Bureau of Reclamation (Department of the Interior) funding action intended to support advanced monitoring and analysis of juvenile salmonids in California's Sacramento River system, including connected floodways and the broader Bay-Delta. The funding is issued as a cooperative agreement, which typically means Reclamation expects to be actively involved in the project in addition to providing financial support, often through coordination on study design, monitoring locations, data needs tied to operations, and delivery of products that inform management decisions.

This opportunity is tied to CFDA 15.512 under the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (Public Law 102-575), specifically the authorities cited as Sections 3406(b)(16) and 3407(e). In practical terms, that places the work squarely within the federal mission of improving fish and wildlife outcomes while operating and managing Central Valley Project water infrastructure. The stated estimated total award amount is 1,045,389.00, with Reclamation providing the full 1,045,389.00 in Fiscal Year 2018. The listing indicates an award ceiling of 1,045,389 and an expectation of a single award, reflecting a targeted, project-specific agreement rather than a broad, multi-recipient competition.

The notice is also clear that this is a non-competitive intent to award, specifically naming the University of California, Santa Cruz as the intended recipient. Although the eligible applicant category is listed as public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, the agency explicitly states that the government is not requesting competitive proposals and that the decision not to compete the assistance is governed by Departmental Manual 505 DM 2, paragraph 2.14(B)(4), which the notice describes as being solely within the government's discretion. In other words, this posting functions more as a public transparency notice about an intended award than as an open solicitation.

The work itself is organized around three main objectives. First, the project will deploy and service field monitoring acoustic telemetry stations in locations that are important to fish and water management. This implies installation and ongoing maintenance of receiver arrays or monitoring nodes positioned to detect tagged fish as they migrate, likely focusing on areas where water operations, diversions, junctions, and floodplain connections affect fish movement and survival. Second, the project will implant acoustic tags in juvenile salmonids that are listed under the Endangered Species Act, including both wild-origin and hatchery-origin fish, and then transport and release those tagged juveniles. That objective reflects hands-on field and lab work: surgically implanting tags, ensuring fish health and handling compliance, coordinating transport logistics, and releasing fish in ways that support robust inference about migration routes and survival. Third, the project will support the production and development of new metrics to better understand survival, distribution, and entrainment of juvenile salmonids along the Sacramento River, its floodways, and the Bay-Delta. The emphasis on "new metrics" signals that the project is not only collecting detections but also turning those detections into decision-relevant analytical products, such as survival estimates by reach, route-selection probabilities, timing distributions, exposure to risk zones, and measures of entrainment risk where fish may be pulled into water diversions or alternative pathways.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is categorized as discretionary funding in the environment activity area, with the funding instrument type listed as a cooperative agreement. The funding opportunity number is BOR MP 18 N008. The record shows a creation date of March 6, 2018, and an original closing date of March 20, 2018, consistent with a short public notice window for an intent-to-award announcement rather than a typical open competition with a longer application period. For questions, the notice directs inquiries to the grants management specialist, Megan Bryant, at mbryant@usbr.gov, and it references the Notice of Intent to Award announcement BOR-MP-18-N008 for additional detail.

• The Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation in the environment sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Enhanced Acoustic Tagging, Analysis, and Real-Time Monitoring of Wild and Hatchery Salmonids in the Sacramento River Valley" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.512.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 06, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 20, 2018. (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 $1,045,389.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.

Apply for BOR MP 18 N008

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