Economic Valuation of Freshwater Lakes and Reservoirs Experiencing Harmful Algal Blooms | W81EWF 23 SOI 0019

Opportunity Information: Apply for W81EWF 23 SOI 0019

The Department of Defense, through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineer Research and Development Center, offered a discretionary research opportunity focused on putting real economic numbers and defensible benefit estimates around harmful algal blooms (HABs) in freshwater lakes and reservoirs. HABs are treated here as a type of aquatic nuisance issue that can disrupt freshwater systems and the infrastructure and operations that depend on them. The problem statement is straightforward: blooms are becoming more frequent and lasting longer, which has led to recreational shutdowns, public health risks, harm to wildlife, and very large economic losses nationwide. Because of that trend, the opportunity emphasizes the need for mitigation approaches and scalable, cost-effective technologies that can detect blooms early, protect resources, and support better management.

At its core, the grant is about economic valuation, not building a new sensor or treatment tool from scratch. The research focus is twofold: first, documenting the economic impacts of HABs (damage assessment), and second, estimating the benefits of mitigation strategies, including the value of damages avoided when blooms are prevented, detected earlier, or controlled more effectively. The intent is to move beyond general statements like "HABs are expensive" and instead produce usable evidence that decision-makers can apply when comparing management options, planning investments, and justifying program funding.

The project is designed as an interdisciplinary collaboration between USACE and a partner from the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) network, structured under a cooperative agreement. That structure signals a collaborative R&D relationship rather than a simple purchase of services, and it aligns with the goal of combining technical HAB knowledge with economics, ecosystem services, and policy-relevant analysis. Proposals were expected to show how they would assess both the direct and indirect costs of blooms on inland waters, surrounding communities, and affected users, while also describing how controlling blooms can generate measurable benefits.

Three specific technical aims define what the funded effort is supposed to produce. The first is a clear accounting of economic damages avoided by controlling HABs in freshwater inland lakes and reservoirs and nearby areas. This can include, for example, avoided costs associated with beach and lake closures, reduced tourism and recreation spending, impacts to local businesses, water treatment costs, public health response costs, and operational disruptions for facilities that rely on the waterbody. The second aim is to describe, quantitatively and/or qualitatively, the benefits of HAB treatment and control to ecosystems that experience blooms, using an Ecosystem Goods and Services framework. In practice, that means translating ecological improvements into categories that matter for people and institutions, such as improved water quality, healthier fisheries, safer wildlife habitat, enhanced recreational experiences, and other ecosystem services that can be communicated to managers and the public. The third aim is to quantify or semi-quantify the return on investment (ROI) for scalable technologies used to detect, prevent, or manage HABs, connecting the cost of deploying those approaches to the economic damages they can reduce and the benefits they can generate.

The solicitation also spells out what a strong proposal needed to look like from a planning and execution standpoint. Applicants were expected to clearly state the main research questions the project would answer (technical objectives), specify the tasks and data required to answer those questions (data quality objectives), and lay out concrete deliverables by task and by year. The agency encouraged teams to build on existing federal and state HAB programs and datasets rather than duplicating prior work, which implies an expectation of leveraging monitoring records, bloom event databases, water quality sampling, remote sensing products, public health advisories, reservoir operation logs, and recreation or economic datasets where available. Proposals were also expected to define success criteria for each task and objective in both quantitative and qualitative terms, and to include go/no-go decision points at the end of each year to support adaptive project management and reduce the risk of continuing down an unproductive path.

Outputs were intended to be publicly shareable and professionally useful. The opportunity calls for reporting results through technical reports and technical notes, along with peer-reviewed journal articles when appropriate, plus presentations and participation in project check-ins such as In Progress Reviews. This indicates the agency wanted the work to have both practical value for USACE and broader value for other practitioners, researchers, and stakeholders who manage or depend on freshwater lakes and reservoirs.

Administratively, the opportunity was posted under Funding Opportunity Number W81EWF 23 SOI 0019, with CFDA 12.630, and categorized as Science and Technology and other Research and Development. It anticipated a single award with an estimated ceiling of $300,000. The original posting date was June 7, 2023, and the original closing date was August 7, 2023. Eligibility was listed broadly as "Others" with further clarification referenced in the full notice, but the narrative makes it clear that the intended partner type was a CESU-affiliated entity capable of supporting interdisciplinary research in economics, ecosystem services, and HAB-related environmental management.

• The Department of Defense, Engineer Research and Development Center in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Economic Valuation of Freshwater Lakes and Reservoirs Experiencing Harmful Algal Blooms" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.630.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 07, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 07, 2023. (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 $300,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for W81EWF 23 SOI 0019

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