Lake Roosevelt Model Update (PNW CESU) | BOR PN 17 N008

Opportunity Information: Apply for BOR PN 17 N008

The Bureau of Reclamation grant opportunity titled "Lake Roosevelt Model Update (PNW CESU)" (Funding Opportunity Number BOR PN 17 N008) is a continuation award under CFDA 15.560 focused on improving how water temperature and total dissolved gas (TDG) are modeled in Lake Roosevelt and the Columbia River system influenced by operations at Grand Coulee Dam. Because reservoir storage and releases can strongly affect downstream temperature and gas conditions, the project is aimed at strengthening decision support for in-season management and for evaluating operational or structural alternatives that could reduce biological impacts (for example, conditions that contribute to fish "take" or other ecological stressors).

At the center of the work is CE-QUAL-W2, a public-domain, two-dimensional (longitudinal-vertical) hydrodynamic and water quality model that has already been developed for Lake Roosevelt through earlier efforts. CE-QUAL-W2 is widely used and can simulate a broad set of physical and water-quality variables, including water levels, velocities, temperature, nutrients, algae, zooplankton, periphyton, macrophytes, dissolved oxygen, pH, alkalinity, carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand groups, suspended solids, tracers and other generic constituents (including bacteria or toxics), and multiple dissolved and particulate organic matter pools. The model represents the reservoir using longitudinal segments and vertical layers, typically on the order of 100 to 1000 meters horizontally and 0.5 to 2 meters vertically, and it can be configured in a quasi-3D way by treating embayments as separate branches connected to the main reservoir.

The stated objective is twofold: (1) improve TDG modeling for Lake Roosevelt using the existing CE-QUAL-W2 framework, and (2) produce a peer review summarized in a white paper that describes temperature regimes in the system and explains how operational choices influence release temperatures. The core technical tasks include extending the model domain downstream by roughly six miles to reach the Hydromet gage near Barry, Washington, adding three additional years of simulation to expand the model record, and running sensitivity analyses to understand how predictions respond to key parameters and boundary conditions. Those sensitivity tests specifically target reaeration, wind effects, bottom friction, and upstream boundary inputs, all of which can meaningfully affect temperature and TDG behavior in reservoir and tailwater settings.

The announcement also describes substantial recipient involvement tied to field and laboratory efforts, emphasizing the need for repeated year-round sampling and processing to support before-after comparisons and model evaluation within an adaptive management framework. In addition to the hydrodynamic and TDG work, the recipient is expected to support ecological analyses that include estimating fish production and its trophic basis at restoration and non-treated reference habitats, quantifying food webs in those locations using approaches consistent with prior studies, and conducting a BACI (Before-After, Control-Impact) analysis to measure responses to side-channel restoration. Results from these components are intended to provide key empirical benchmarks that can be used to calibrate an ATP model referenced in the description.

Administratively, this is not an open solicitation or request for applications. It is a public notice that Reclamation intends to fund specific project activities without full and open competition because the work continues an existing agreement. The eligible applicant category listed is public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, consistent with the Pacific Northwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (PNW CESU) partnership structure. The posting lists an award ceiling of $130,597, with the original closing date shown as 2017-08-30 and a creation date of 2017-08-16, underscoring that the notice functions primarily as a transparency requirement for a planned continuation action rather than a competitive grant opportunity.

• The Bureau of Reclamation in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Lake Roosevelt Model Update (PNW CESU)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.560.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-08-16.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-08-30. (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 $130,597.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.

Apply for BOR PN 17 N008

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