Notice of Intent:Hydrologic Assessment of Grand Canyon NPâ¿¿s source Water and associated groundwater monitoring and modeling | P17AS00089

Opportunity Information: Apply for P17AS00089

This funding opportunity is a National Park Service (Department of the Interior) notice of intent focused on protecting and better understanding Grand Canyon National Park's primary water supply source, Roaring Springs, and the connected spring system that feeds Bright Angel Creek. The park is preparing to upgrade water supply and delivery infrastructure, and the grant is framed around a basic but high-stakes problem: the park does not yet have a well-defined understanding of where the water feeding Roaring Springs and associated springs is actually coming from on the landscape. Because that "source water area" is poorly delineated, the park cannot confidently evaluate how much water will be available in the future, how that supply may shift under climate change, or how exposed the system is to contamination from activities on the surface of the Kaibab Plateau.

The core purpose of the project is to delineate the contributing (recharge) area for the Bright Angel Creek spring network, with an emphasis on the Kaibab Plateau areas that drain through the spring systems connected to Roaring Springs. In practical terms, the work is meant to map and confirm which parts of the plateau and related karst features (such as sinkholes, caves, and dissolvable bedrock pathways) are hydraulically connected to the springs that ultimately supply the park. This delineation is not a paperwork exercise; it is intended to directly support source water protection, water-supply planning, and risk management. Once the park knows the true footprint of the recharge area, it can more accurately identify potential contamination sources, prioritize protection measures, and make better decisions about infrastructure investments and long-term water security.

Methodologically, the opportunity highlights dye tracing and spring monitoring as the primary technical approaches. Dye tracing is proposed as a way to empirically confirm groundwater flow paths and connections in a karst aquifer setting, where water can move quickly and unpredictably through subsurface conduits. Spring monitoring is intended to characterize how spring discharge and water quality respond to precipitation and snowmelt, improving understanding of aquifer storage, travel times, and system behavior over time. The description notes that existing monitoring indicates relatively rapid travel times during spring snowmelt, with water taking less than two weeks to reach the Roaring Springs system. That finding underscores both vulnerability and urgency: in karst terrain, contaminants introduced at the surface can potentially move to the water supply quickly, sometimes at speeds comparable to surface streams, leaving little natural filtration or time for response.

The grant also makes clear why current knowledge is inadequate. While existing spring datasets provide useful clues about aquifer dynamics, they are not sufficient to project future yield or reliably quantify how much water the system can provide under changing conditions. Without a defensible delineation of the land area contributing recharge to all springs feeding Bright Angel Creek, any estimate of future water availability remains uncertain. Similarly, without knowing the true recharge boundaries, the park cannot confidently inventory or manage potential contamination threats, because it would not know which surface activities are actually within the contributing area for the water supply and associated spring and stream ecosystems.

Administratively, this is a discretionary cooperative agreement in the natural resources category. Eligibility is limited to public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, reflecting an expectation that a university partner will carry out or co-develop the technical work in close coordination with the National Park Service. The funding opportunity number is P17AS00089, with a stated award ceiling of $182,354 and an expectation of one award. The opportunity was created on February 21, 2017, with an original closing date of March 2, 2017, indicating a short application window typical of targeted, partner-specific cooperative research efforts.

In summary, the opportunity seeks to fund a focused hydrologic assessment that ties together dye tracing, spring monitoring, and related groundwater characterization to define the source water area for Roaring Springs and the Bright Angel Creek spring system. The intended outcome is a clearer, evidence-based understanding of where the park's water comes from, how quickly and through what pathways it travels, how resilient the supply may be under climate pressure, and what parts of the Kaibab Plateau must be managed as critical source water protection zones to reduce contamination risk and safeguard the park's water supply and dependent ecosystems.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Notice of Intent:Hydrologic Assessment of Grand Canyon NPâ¿¿s source Water and associated groundwater monitoring and modeling" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.945.
• This funding opportunity was created on Feb 21, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 02, 2017. (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 $182,354.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.

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