Grand Ditch Restoration Adaptive Management Monitoring | P17AS00467

Opportunity Information: Apply for P17AS00467

The Grand Ditch Restoration Adaptive Management Monitoring grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number P17AS00467) was a National Park Service (Department of the Interior) discretionary funding notice focused on supporting monitoring before, during, and after a major river and wetland restoration project in the Lulu City area. The need for this work traces back to a 2003 breach of the Grand Ditch that released tens of thousands of cubic yards of sediment into Lulu Creek and the Colorado River system, with a portion of that material ultimately settling into the Lulu City wetland. The impacts of the breach, and the rationale for undertaking restoration, were formally documented in the project’s Final Environmental Impact Statement, which serves as the underlying compliance and planning basis for the restoration effort described in the opportunity.

The restoration itself was planned to begin in summer 2017 and was expected to involve heavy machinery operations over roughly two years, reflecting the scale of earthmoving and channel work required. The final restoration design referenced in the notice (Sueltenfuss and Cooper, 2017) aimed to reestablish the Colorado River’s historic meander path through the Lulu City wetland and to bring back the tall willow riparian community historically supported by that landscape. In practical terms, the project sought to reverse channel displacement caused by sediment deposition from the 2003 breach and earlier debris flows that created a large alluvial fan at the wetland’s head. That fan pushed the river away from its historic route through the center of the valley and into a newer alignment along the western edge of the valley.

A key ecological problem described in the opportunity is that the deposited debris has been steering water toward the west side of the valley and onto relatively high ground, producing broad sheet flow that spreads southeast across the meadow toward the historic channel. Instead of a more dynamic pattern of flooding and drainage typical of a meandering river-floodplain system, this has led to persistent, season-long saturation across much of the meadow. The notice explains that this long-term saturated condition has changed the plant community from a diverse tall willow floodplain system, which is also described as favorable for beaver, into a more simplified herbaceous wet meadow dominated by a small set of species, specifically Carex utriculata, Calamagrostis canadensis, and Carex aquatilis. The monitoring described in the grant opportunity is positioned as essential for adaptive management, meaning it would provide the information needed to evaluate whether the restoration actions are producing the intended hydrologic and ecological responses and to guide adjustments if they are not.

From an administrative standpoint, the funding instrument was a cooperative agreement, indicating the National Park Service expected to have substantial involvement in the funded work (for example, coordination on study design, field access, data standards, and integration with restoration decisions). The opportunity fell under the Natural Resources activity category (CFDA 15.945) and was limited to eligible applicants that were public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, emphasizing that the award was designed for universities or similar public academic entities capable of conducting rigorous field monitoring and analysis. The anticipated award structure was small and targeted: one expected award with a ceiling of $42,466, suggesting a focused monitoring scope or a discrete component of a broader monitoring program.

The timeline for the solicitation was short. The opportunity was created on June 30, 2017, with an original closing date of July 9, 2017, implying that the agency intended to move quickly to put monitoring in place alongside the start of restoration activities in summer 2017. Overall, the grant opportunity was centered on building a monitoring framework to track sediment and channel-related restoration outcomes in the Lulu City wetland, measure changes in hydrology and vegetation tied to reestablishing the river’s historic meander, and support adaptive decisions during and after the two-year period of intensive restoration construction.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Grand Ditch Restoration Adaptive Management Monitoring" 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 Jun 30, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 09, 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 $42,466.00 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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