USGS Water Use Data and Research Program Announcement for Fiscal Year 2023 | G23AS00463

Opportunity Information: Apply for G23AS00463

The USGS Water Use Data and Research (WUDR) Program Announcement for Fiscal Year 2023 is a discretionary federal funding opportunity from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), offered through its Water Availability and Use Science Program (WAUSP). It provides support through a two-year cooperative agreement designed specifically for State water resource agencies that collect, manage, estimate, or report water-use data. The central goal is to strengthen how water-use information is gathered and shared so that it is more complete, reliable, consistent across jurisdictions, and easier to use alongside national datasets maintained by USGS. In practice, the funding is meant to help States improve routine water-use data programs and reporting systems that feed into the national picture of how water is used across the United States.

This opportunity is grounded in federal law under Public Law 111-11, Subtitle F, SECURE Water Act, Section 9508, which establishes the National Water Availability and Use Assessment Program. Under this authority, the WUDR program emphasizes not only collecting or estimating water-use and water-availability data, but also making the resulting datasets accessible in a machine-readable, open format. That open-data requirement is not a side note; it is a core expectation intended to ensure USGS can integrate State-produced datasets with federal datasets and publish compatible national products. The broader idea is that water-use data should not remain locked in separate systems or formats that prevent comparison and aggregation.

The program sits within the long-running USGS National Water Use Science Project, which has produced national water-use estimates since 1950 and traditionally publishes major national summaries on a five-year cycle. Those estimates are built using scientific and statistical methods to describe how water is used across categories and locations, creating both historical continuity and current benchmarks. The grant opportunity supports the data foundation for that national reporting by helping States assemble category-specific water-use information, such as irrigation and public supply, in a way that can be consistently interpreted nationwide. This type of information is treated as essential for understanding not just demand, but also how water timing, availability, and competing uses interact, especially as conditions shift due to growth, land use changes, drought, and other environmental pressures.

A key theme in the announcement is practical decision support for water managers and the public. By improving the availability and quality of water-use datasets, the program aims to give State agencies and other stakeholders better tools to track current conditions and anticipate future conflicts. The announcement explicitly connects this to Department of the Interior Secretarial priorities, framing water-use data as a basic input for planning, reducing uncertainty, and avoiding disputes that can emerge when supplies tighten or demands change. The cooperative agreement structure also signals that USGS expects active collaboration rather than a simple pass-through grant, with ongoing coordination between USGS water-use scientists and State partners.

The work is supported by USGS Water Science Centers operating in all 50 States, the Territories, and the District of Columbia, and the announcement highlights that water-use data collection typically involves broad partnerships. In addition to State agencies, USGS water-use efforts often involve other federal agencies, Tribes, water authorities, counties and local communities, corporations, academia, and private-sector entities. The program is presented as a way to strengthen these relationships and improve communication channels between the Department of the Interior and State natural resource offices and water authorities, with a focus on making the resulting data more usable and more widely distributed.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is identified as Funding Opportunity Number G23AS00463 under CFDA 15.981, with the funding instrument listed as a cooperative agreement and the activity area categorized under natural resources. Eligible applicants are described as State water resource agencies that collect or manage water-use data. The posting lists an award ceiling of $125,000 and shows an original closing date of April 13, 2023, with a creation date of December 14, 2022. Examples of previously funded work are generally described as projects under the USGS Water-Use Data and Research Program, reinforcing that typical funded activities revolve around improving State water-use datasets and the methods and systems used to produce and deliver them.

• The Geological Survey in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "USGS Water Use Data and Research Program Announcement for Fiscal Year 2023" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.981.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-12-14.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-04-13. (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 $125,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

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