# National Information Collaboration on Ecohydraulics (NICE): Beneficial Use for Fisheries

Source: https://welltoldgrants.com/grants/w81ewf-24-soi-0008-national-information-collaboration-on-ecohydraulics-nice/  
Official notice: https://www.grants.gov/search-results-detail/351159

> Engineer Research and Development Center offered grants of up to $450,000 to the applicants described in the notice. It expected to make one award worth $450,000 in total. Applications closed on January 26, 2024.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Opportunity number | W81EWF-24-SOI-0008 |
| Agency | Engineer Research and Development Center |
| Status | Forecast |
| Deadline | January 26, 2024 |
| Award ceiling | $450,000 |
| Award floor | not stated |
| Expected awards | 1 |
| Total funding | $450,000 |
| Cost sharing | not required |
| Assistance Listings | 12.630 |

## Who can apply

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

This opportunity is restricted to non-federal partners of the Chesapeake Watershed Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit (CESU).

## What the grant funds

There are many locks and dams, navigation channels, and increasingly beneficial sediment-use sites across the Mississippi watershed and throughout the United States. Interest is high in understanding navigation impacts on fisheries and how navigation infrastructure can be used to manage fisheries in the role of navigation. Currently, fisheries impacts are often not explicitly accounted for in lock and dam operations. For example, nearly all dams in the Mississippi Basin and southeastern United States are, by and large, not designed to accommodate fish passage for native fish. Moreover, many of these dams are now being viewed as possible components for control and management of aquatic nuisance species. Some native fishes are now protected under provisions of the Endangered Species Act further heightening interest in the possible influence of locks and dams on fish movement. A primary challenge of the proposed work is to develop strategies that allow fish movement past locks and dams while not impacting navigation operations. The National Information Collaboration for Ecohydraulics (NICE) has been established with the mission of applying ecohydraulic principles to navigation infrastructure at multiple scales and facilitating accurate engineering forecasts of fisheries outcomes based on research and development for multiple contexts. The goal of this project is to gather data for the beneficial use of dredged material related to fisheries in order to advance the management of navigation channel maintenance in environmentally sensitive locations. Many beneficial use demonstration projects are underway in the Chesapeake Bay region and elsewhere in the United States (San Francisco Bay, Lower Columbia River, etc). How fish, particularly ESA-listed fish, locate, occupy, and ultimately contribute to population-level processes is vital to understanding the larger ecosystem benefits associated with beneficial reuse. Multidimensional models of how water moves into and out of beneficial use sites and, in turn, how fish respond to these multidimensional flow fields are needed. The influence of emergent vegetation on these outcomes over time and the interconnected sediment budget are important to consider. Aspects of the studies will include the development of high-resolution multidimensional fish tracks in shallow water locations that are or may be future beneficial use locations. The location for the field studies will be in the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.

## Questions people ask

### Is W81EWF-24-SOI-0008 still open?

No. It closed on January 26, 2024. A newer notice is open: W912HZ26S0001, closes January 1, 2027 (55 days left).

### Who can apply for National Information Collaboration on Ecohydraulics (NICE): Beneficial Use for Fisheries?

Engineer Research and Development Center accepted applications from the applicants described in the notice. The notice adds further conditions, so read its eligibility section.

### What is the deadline for National Information Collaboration on Ecohydraulics (NICE): Beneficial Use for Fisheries?

Closed January 26, 2024. Applications are no longer accepted; the program's newer notices are on this page when there are any.

### How much funding is available?

Awards of up to $450,000 each. About $450,000 in total for one award.

### Who has won Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering grants before?

The largest recipients over five fiscal years were Battelle Memorial Institute, Msi Stem Research & Development Consortium, University of California San Diego. The program made 1,101 awards worth $1.3 billion in that time.