Grants & RFPs

Small Watershed Grants

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the federal-state Chesapeake Bay Program partnership, is soliciting proposals to restore water quality and habitats of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributary rivers and streams.

NFWF is soliciting proposals under the Small Watershed Grants (SWG) program for projects within the Chesapeake Bay watershed that promote community-based efforts to protect and restore the diverse natural resources of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributary rivers and streams. NFWF will award funding through two distinct funding opportunities:

1. SWG Implementation grants will be awarded for projects that result in direct, on-the-ground actions to protect and restore water quality, species and habitats in the Bay watershed.
2. SWG Planning and Technical Assistance grants will be awarded for projects that enhance local capacity to more efficiently and effectively implement future on-the-ground actions through assessment, planning, design and other technical assistance-oriented activities. 

NFWF estimates awarding $5-7 million in grants through the combined SWG program in 2019 contingent on the availability of funding. Major funding comes from the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program Office, with other important contributions by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Altria Group and CSX.

Closing Date: May 14, 2019

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Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction Grants

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the federal-state Chesapeake Bay Program partnership, is soliciting proposals to restore water quality and habitats of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributary rivers and streams.

NFWF is soliciting proposals under the Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction Grants (INSR) program in order to accelerate the rate and geographic scale of implementation of water quality improvements specifically through the collaborative and coordinated efforts of sustainable, regional-scale partnerships and networks of practitioners with a shared focus on water quality restoration and protection. Projects proposing to implement water quality improvements at the pilot or demonstration scale, through ad-hoc project-scale partnerships, or via small-scale applications of new or innovative technologies are encouraged to apply for funding instead through the separate Small Watershed Grants program Request for Proposals.

NFWF estimates awarding $5-7 million in grants through the INSR program in 2019 through a two-stage application process, contingent on the availability of funding. Major funding comes from the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program Office, with other important contributions by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Altria Group and CSX.

Closing Date: May 14, 2019

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Science Synthesis Project for the Chesapeake Bay Program Partnership

The Chesapeake Research Consortium (CRC) is seeking proposals to conduct a science synthesis project, sponsored by the Chesapeake Bay Program's Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (STAC), related to how climate change may impact on-going efforts to restore and protect the Chesapeake Bay.

Appropriate topics for a STAC-sponsored science synthesis project are those where a thoughtful analysis and synthesis of available data and/or previously published results would identify, characterize and suggest means of addressing important knowledge gaps, inform additional research and place scientific information into a management-relevant context. Uncertainties associated with potential climate change-related impacts on the Chesapeake Bay system are unavoidable and must be acknowledged. Proposals must include characterizations of key, relevant climate change-related uncertainties that may affect the Bay Program’s capacity to predict system responses and achieve desired outcomes. Proposals should also address how the implications of uncertainty and the opportunities for risk-based decision-making can best be communicated to the Bay Program partnership.

Suitable science synthesis focus areas under the broad topic of climate change include the following. Although these are all areas of natural science inquiry, we recognize the role of social science and the importance of human behavior and consideration of social factors affecting decisions about mitigation or adaptation.

• Model Forcing: Simulated climate forecasts used to drive the Bay Program’s suite of models that are used to assess the attainment of applicable water quality standards and the achievement of desired outcomes as articulated in the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement.
• Watershed Processes: The potential impact of climate change on processes and mitigation measures across a range of scales that affect hydrologic inputs and drive watershed fluxes, storage and transformation of nutrients, sediment and contaminants contributing to water quality impairments, and impacts on the ecology of living resources in the Bay ecosystem.
• Estuarine Processes: The potential impact of climate change on physical, chemical and biological processes in the Bay ecosystem that affect the ability of the Bay to attain applicable water quality standards, protect living resources, and achieve desired outcomes articulated in the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement.

The funded proposal will present the process/procedures that will be undertaken to conduct a thorough and thoughtful synthesis of available data and previously reported approaches, methods and results related to some aspect of the focus areas mentioned previously. Science synthesis projects will result in a synthesis of the “state of the science” including characterizing knowledge gaps and research needs as related to the specific topic(s) being addressed and Chesapeake Bay restoration. Science synthesis project findings should guide STAC in providing informed recommendations to the Bay Program partnership as they make policy decisions and implement management approaches for the purpose of protecting and restoring the Chesapeake Bay.

Closing Date: May 10, 2019

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Conowingo Watershed Implementation Plan Support

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Chesapeake Bay Program Office is announcing a Request for Applications (RFA) for technical, financial and programmatic assistance to reduce the necessary pollutant loads due to Conowingo Dam infill. This technical support includes:

1. The development and implementation of a Conowingo Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) and two-year milestones, including an approach to identify the most cost-effective, efficient and targeted nutrient and sediment reduction actions to address increased pollutant loadings due to the Conowingo Dam infill.
2. Development of a multijurisdictional approach to financing by delivering a framework for a new financing system and associated implementation plan.
3. Development of a system for tracking, verifying and reporting the implementation of practices identified in the Conowingo WIP and two-year milestones providing nutrient and sediment pollutant load reductions.

Closing Date: March 20, 2019

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