WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH ACT PROGRAM NATIONAL COMPETITIVE GRANTS FY2025 (104g General) | G25AS00485

Opportunity Information: Apply for G25AS00485

The WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH ACT PROGRAM NATIONAL COMPETITIVE GRANTS FY2025 (104g General) is a USGS-administered competitive grant opportunity authorized under Section 104 of the Water Resources Research Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-242) and subsequent amendments. The program is designed to fund water resources research through the nationally distributed network of Water Resources Research Institutes (WRRIs) that were established under the Act. There are 54 Institutes in total, covering every U.S. state plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam. The Guam Institute also serves the Federated States of Micronesia and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Hawaii Institute also serves American Samoa. While the funding is awarded only to these officially recognized WRRIs, the program is structured so that university-based investigators across the United States can still participate by applying through their state or territorial Institute.

Eligibility is narrowly defined at the applicant level: only WRRIs established under Section 104(a) and listed by USGS are eligible to receive awards. In practice, this means an individual faculty member or researcher does not apply directly as an independent applicant; instead, they submit a proposal via the WRRI hosted at the university where that Institute is located. The submitting institution (the host university) must file the application package through Grants.gov, and the package must include the full proposal along with the standard federal assistance forms SF-424 and SF-424B and the required budget forms. The notice also makes clear that proposals may request matching funds from an Institute, but that matching support is not guaranteed and is entirely at the discretion of the Institute Director.

The opportunity is categorized as a discretionary grant in the Natural Resources area (CFDA 15.805). The Funding Opportunity Number is G25AS00485, with an original application closing date of 2025-09-30. The listed award ceiling is $310,000. The posting indicates “Expected Awards:” but does not provide a number in the excerpt, so applicants should rely on the full announcement on Grants.gov (or related USGS program materials) for the anticipated number and typical award sizes, if stated elsewhere.

Several categories of applications are explicitly ineligible. Proposals will not be funded if they involve research on health effects that includes human subjects, if they focus on oceanography (with the important exception that estuarine research is allowed), or if they do not align with the program objectives described in the full announcement. Another key compliance-based restriction is that an Institute or Center that has not met reporting requirements on a previous USGS award may be disqualified from receiving new funding, which underscores the importance of past performance and timely reporting for institutional eligibility.

The announcement also draws clear boundaries around federal participation. Federal employees are encouraged to collaborate with university investigators, but they cannot serve as the Principal Investigator (PI). They may participate as Co-PI, which allows federal technical expertise to be involved without placing federal staff in the lead role. In addition, federal employees and federal agencies cannot receive federal funds under these awards for any purpose, and they also cannot be used as a source of matching funds. In other words, while collaboration is welcome, the federal side cannot be paid by the award and cannot satisfy any match requirement.

Finally, the USGS will screen applicants and key project personnel against the System for Award Management (SAM) Exclusions database prior to making an award. If the applicant entity or key personnel are listed as excluded, prohibited/restricted, or otherwise ineligible in SAM.gov in a way that applies to this program, USGS cannot make the award. This is a standard federal integrity check, but it is highlighted here as a firm eligibility gate that can block funding even if the technical proposal is strong.

In practical terms, this opportunity is best understood as a national competitive research grant program that routes funding through the WRRI network: the Institutes are the official award recipients, and they sponsor and submit proposals on behalf of eligible university investigators. Applicants should confirm their alignment with the program’s water-resources research objectives, ensure the work does not fall into excluded topic areas (notably human-subject health effects research and oceanography outside estuaries), coordinate early with their WRRI leadership about internal processes and any potential Institute match, and ensure all institutional and personnel compliance requirements (including prior reporting status and SAM exclusions checks) are in good standing before submission.

• The Geological Survey in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH ACT PROGRAM NATIONAL COMPETITIVE GRANTS FY2025 (104g General)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.805.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-08-15.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-09-30. (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 $310,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for G25AS00485

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: