Grants / Department of Defense / Engineer Research and Development Center

W81EWF-22-SOI-0027: Threatened and Endangered Fish Passage on the Alabama River

Closed Closed August 22, 2022 Opportunity W81EWF-22-SOI-0027 ☆ Save

This grant is closed. A newer notice from the same program is open now: ERDC Broad Agency Announcement (W912HZ26S0001). Status: Closes January 1, 2027 (55 days left). It is in our archive of Engineer Research and Development Center notices from 2022.

• Award ceiling$1.0 million
• Total funding$1.0 million
• Expected awards1
• Cost sharingNot required
• Funding typeCooperative Agreement

Key dates

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to the applicants described in the notice.

• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Information on Eligibility" for clarification)

This opportunity is restricted to non-federal partners of the Gulf Coast Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit (CESU)

Is this a realistic fit?

• Past Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering awards averaged $1.1 million; this notice allows up to $1.0 million per award.
• Most of the program's money (69% over five years) went to colleges and universities.
• No cost sharing or match is required.

What the grant funds

Background: Questions remain whether the operation of navigational lock chambers along the Alabama River helps large riverine fishes move upstream of dams and allow for their natural and historic long-distance migrations, most often for spawning. Species such as sturgeons (including the endangered Alabama sturgeon), paddlefish, and striped bass, as well as lesser known, nongame species like the southeastern blue sucker, smallmouth buffalo, and highfin carpsucker have historically migrated along Alabama's rivers. Fisheries researchers tagged fish and installed an array of 19 receivers that spanned the distance from the Mobile Delta to the Cahaba River (including inside the lock chambers at Claiborne and Millers Ferry); these receivers automatically detect the signal of tagged fish that pass by them, allowing the researchers to follow fish movements. During preliminary research, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducted daily special non-navigational lockages to allow fish the chance to move past the lock structures. This provided a large number of additional opportunities for fish to move into and through the lock chambers beyond the regular navigational operations of the locks. Preliminary research demonstrated that fish can and do enter lock chambers during these specialized lock operations, just as they can during regular navigational lockages. However, if lock operations are halted or reduced, then these opportunities for fishes to move upstream past the dams on their historic spawning migrations are eliminated, leading to a greatly reduced chance of fish moving upstream to spawn and eventual decline or elimination of the species. New infrastructure is under consideration; however, questions about what type of infrastructure (bypass channel, fishway, fish lift for example) remain. It is unknown how infrastructure affect fish population impacts, passage further upstream, as well as impact on overall ecosystem health. Brief Description of Anticipated Work: Historically, fish made long distance migrations within the Alabama River. Current fish migrations are largely eliminated by dams, but there is potential, with proper mitigation, to reestablish migration and enhance ecological and economic benefits of the river. The goal of the project is to evaluate the fish movement at two locations in the Alabama River each with a different focus: Claiborne Lock and Dam and Montgomery Lock and Dam, each are USACE structure on the Alabama River.

Category: Science and Technology and other Research and Development.

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Apply under the newer notice, W912HZ26S0001, which is open now.

The notice on Grants.gov keeps its full text and attachments, which is useful for planning a resubmission.