Challenge Grants: Water Marketing and Efficiency Grants for the American Recovery Reinvestment Act of 2009

With recent enactment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act), the Bureau of Reclamation will be accepting new applications for RECOVERY ACT Funding under the Challenge Grant Program for Water Marketing and Efficiency Grants. The objective of this Announcement will be to invite irrigation and water districts, United States Territories, States in the West, and other local entities with water delivery authority to leverage their money and resources by cost sharing with Reclamation on projects that bank water, market water, conserve water, or generally make more efficient use of existing water supplies and that will preserve and create jobs, assist those impacted by the recession, provide investments in infrastructure that will provide long-term economic benefits, and complete a project that will provide a useful service. Projects will be selected through a competitive process. The Department of the Interior (Interior) believes that water banks and markets are essential to secure water supplies in water-short areas of the West. Interior strongly supports the use of these mechanisms, providing that State law allows for them, to enable water to be shifted to address competing water uses while recognizing existing water rights. Accordingly, Water Marketing and Efficiency Grants applications proposing water banking or marketing elements are given priority in the selection process.Applications under this activity for Recovery Act funding are different from applications previously submitted for Water Marketing and Efficiency Grants on January 14, 2009. To be considered previous applicants must reapply. Projects using Recovery Act Funding will be subject to additional reporting requirements, Davis Bacon Wage Rate Determinations, and the Buy American Act.