Project TitleSupport of a Pilot to Investigate Demand Management Conservation | BOR UC 18 N024

Opportunity Information: Apply for BOR UC 18 N024

This Bureau of Reclamation grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number BOR UC 18 N024) supported a single pilot project focused on “demand management” conservation in the Upper Colorado River Basin. The broader context is the Colorado River Drought Contingency Plans (DCPs), which the Upper Division States, working through the Upper Colorado River Commission (UCRC), developed alongside the Lower Division States, basin water users, and Reclamation. The goal of these DCPs is to avoid or reduce the chance that reservoir levels in Lake Powell or Lake Mead fall to critically low elevations, which could trigger serious operational problems and reduce water deliveries and hydropower services relied on throughout the basin.

The specific purpose of this funding was to take a deeper, practical look at issues flagged through the Upper Basin’s System Conservation Pilot Program (SCPP) and to test whether a voluntary, compensated reduction in consumptive use could work as a real-world tool to help stabilize conditions. In other words, the pilot was meant to investigate whether paying participating water users to temporarily use less water (thereby reducing “consumptive use,” the portion not returned to the river system) could measurably help slow the decline of Lake Powell or potentially raise Powell’s water levels. The findings from this work were intended to help the UCRC and Upper Division States identify workable alternatives and solutions, assess feasibility and design challenges, and determine whether demand management could be implemented as part of the Upper Basin DCP framework.

Administratively, this was a discretionary grant under the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, categorized under disaster prevention and relief (CFDA 15.517). Eligibility was limited to state governments, reflecting that the program was designed to be carried out at a state-led or interstate-commission level rather than by private entities or local organizations directly. The opportunity anticipated one award with an award ceiling of $800,000. It was created on September 11, 2018, with an original closing date of September 19, 2018, indicating a short application window and a targeted, time-sensitive effort tied to drought risk and reservoir protection planning.

In practical terms, this opportunity was less about funding routine conservation projects and more about answering policy-and-implementation questions that matter for basin-wide drought response: what barriers exist to running a voluntary, compensated demand management program; how such reductions could be verified and accounted for; what participation might look like across different water-use sectors; and whether the approach can meaningfully contribute to protecting critical storage in Lake Powell as part of the Upper Basin’s drought contingency strategy.

• The Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation in the disaster prevention and relief sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Project TitleSupport of a Pilot to Investigate Demand Management Conservation" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.517.
• This funding opportunity was created on Sep 11, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 19, 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 $800,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments.

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