WaterSMART Applied Science Grants for the Desert Landscape Conservation Cooperative

Resource managers concerned with conservation of natural and cultural resources are faced with increasing challenges. Such challenges may include changing water availability, changing land use, preserving traditional or historical sites, areas, landscapes, and/or resources, sensitive species protection and recovery, invasive species, and a range of other complex issues—all of which are further complicated as the impacts of climate change are realized. In response, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) is participating in the Desert Landscape Conservation Cooperative (LCC). This effort represents a broader vision of conservation that includes working with partners across landscapes to ensure that science capacity is in place to enable resource managers to successfully address these 21st century conservation challenges. LCCs are management-science partnerships that inform integrated resource management actions addressing climate change and other stressors within and across landscapes. LCCs bring together science and resource conservation to support and complement adaptation strategies addressing climate change and water conservation. Each LCC functions within a specific landscape, but it is also part of a national and, ultimately, international network. LCCs are true cooperatives formed and directed by land, water, wildlife, and cultural resources managers and interested public and private organizations. Project categories were developed through a collaborative process between Desert LCC member agencies and stakeholders within the region. This process included review of over forty technical reports and assessments developed over the Desert LCC region, six outreach meetings and workshops, and direct communication with interested stakeholders, parties, and individuals. These projects address priority science needs identified by the Desert LCC. The types of projects eligible for funding are more fully described in section III.C, below.FY 2012 Desert LCC science needs:1. Interactions between ecosystems and hydrology2. Impacts of climate change and land/resource management to watersheds and associated hydroecologic resources3. Climate change impacts to surface water and ground water dependent habitats and species4. Climate change impacts to the interaction between surface water and ground water resources5. Investigate climate change impacts to future water supply and resource availability for humans and ecosystems6. Improved monitoring and inventory of watersheds and their associated infrastructure and ecosystems (including pathogens and invasive species)7. Improved hydrologic forecasting and modeling methodologies including better understanding and communication of associated uncertainty