Grants / Department of Defense / Engineer Research and Development Center

W81EWF-23-SOI-0012: Jekyll Creek Thin Layer Placement Monitoring and Analysis of Ecosystem Response

Closed Closed June 26, 2023 Opportunity W81EWF-23-SOI-0012 ☆ 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 2023.

• Award ceiling$75,000
• Total funding$150,000
• 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 Piedmont-South Atlantic Coast Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit (CESU). Disclosures of current and pending support made in this application may render an applicant ineligible for funding. Prior to award and throughout the period of performance, ERDC may continue to request updated continuing and pending support information, which will be reviewed and may result in discontinuation of funding. Religious organizations are entitled to compete on equal footing with secular organizations for Federal financial assistance as described in E.O. 13798, “Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty.”

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 $75,000 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

Thin Layer Placement (TLP) is a sediment placement strategy designed to enhance coastal resilience by supplementing coastal marshes with sediment to help keep pace with relative sea level rise. Coastal wetland loss due to sea level rise and subsidence has impacts on both ecosystem functionality at local scales as well as regionally. Coastal wetlands are nurseries for estuarine, nearshore, and marine organisms. Coastal wetland loss also reduces the extent of natural buffers that protect coastal communities from episodic events such as storms and hurricanes and longer scale erosional events and processes impacting ocean and estuarine shorelines. TLP is a relatively new beneficial use of dredged material technique employed by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and others to support coastal resilience. The technique is supported by the Regional Sediment Management (RSM) program and successful demonstration projects have been conducted in New Jersey, Maryland, and Louisiana to list a few. While USACE has demonstrated successful construction of the projects, additional research will increase the understanding of the effectiveness of Thin Layer Placement (TLP) as a method to support coastal resilience and beneficial use of dredged material. The data gathered can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the placement strategy in achieving ecosystem and habitat function goals. Jekyll Creek is a portion of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AIWW) located west of Jekyll Island and south of Brunswick Harbor in southeast Georgia. The control and placement sites are located in Glynn County, Georgia, on the northeast side of Jekyll Island and are fronted by the Brunswick River and Jekyll Creek. The property is owned and managed by GA DNR. Jekyll Island encompasses 5,700 acres and has more than 1,750 acres of salt- and brackish-water tidal marsh, located primarily on the western part of the island. The control site is approximately 5 acres and the placement site is 5 acres. The dredge material placement was completed in 2018. Program Description/Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of TLP as a method to support ecosystem and habitat function goals, continued assessments of post project conditions including the placement area and control site are required.

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.