WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH ACT PROGRAM NATIONAL COMPETITIVE GRANTS FY2025 PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT For AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES | G25AS00483

Opportunity Information: Apply for G25AS00483

The FY2025 Water Resources Research Act (WRRA) Program National Competitive Grants announcement for Aquatic Invasive Species is a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) funding opportunity authorized under Section 104 of the Water Resources Research Act of 1984, as amended. In practical terms, this program exists to support water resources research through the nationwide network of Water Resources Research Institutes (WRRIs). These Institutes are formally established under the Act and are located across all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam, with additional regional service roles (Guam also serving the Federated States of Micronesia and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; Hawaii also serving American Samoa). USGS administers the program on behalf of the Department of the Interior, and the official WRRI list and contacts are maintained on the USGS WRRI website.

Eligibility is structured around the WRRI network. Only WRRIs established under Section 104(a) and listed by USGS can receive awards directly, which means proposals must flow through one of these Institutes. At the same time, the program is designed to be accessible to a broad academic community: any investigator at a U.S. institution of higher learning can pursue an award, as long as they apply through a WRRI. Submission is not done by an individual investigator acting alone; the application package must be submitted in Grants.gov by the university that houses the Institute. The announcement also notes that proposals can request matching funds from an Institute, but that decision is left to the discretion of the individual Institute Director, so applicants generally need to coordinate early with their WRRI about cost share expectations and internal priorities.

The announcement outlines several clear boundaries on what will not be funded. Research involving health effects with human subjects is not eligible. Oceanography-focused proposals are also excluded, although estuarine research is explicitly acceptable, which matters for aquatic invasive species work that intersects with brackish or coastal transitional waters. Proposals that fail to align with the program objectives as stated in the announcement are not fundable, and Institutes or Centers that have not met USGS reporting requirements on prior awards are also ineligible to receive new funding under this competition. These restrictions effectively push applicants to keep the work squarely in the water resources research lane (including AIS-relevant freshwater and estuarine systems), and to ensure that the administrative history of the submitting Institute is in good standing.

Collaboration rules are also spelled out, especially regarding federal personnel. Federal employees are encouraged to collaborate with university investigators, which can be useful for AIS projects that benefit from agency data, monitoring infrastructure, or management context. However, federal employees may not serve as the principal investigator; they may serve as a co-PI. In addition, federal employees and federal agencies cannot receive federal funds under these awards for any purpose, and they cannot be used as a source of matching funds. This means partnerships with federal agencies need to be structured as non-funded collaborations (for example, providing expertise, access to sites, or in-kind support that is not treated as match from a federal source).

The program includes a compliance screen for excluded parties. USGS will review the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) Exclusions database for applicant entities and key project personnel prior to award. If an entity or key person is listed as ineligible or otherwise excluded in a way that applies to this program, USGS cannot make the award. For applicants, this is a reminder that basic federal assistance eligibility and registrations matter, and that issues in SAM can derail a proposal even if the technical science is strong.

Key administrative details in the opportunity listing include the Funding Opportunity Number G25AS00483 and CFDA (Assistance Listing) 15.805. The funding instrument is a grant, and the activity category is natural resources. The opportunity is listed with an original closing date of 2025-09-30. The award ceiling is stated as 346,875 (currency not explicitly labeled in the excerpt, but typically U.S. dollars in this context). The announcement is targeted to aquatic invasive species within the broader WRRA competitive grants framework, and the main practical takeaway is that researchers interested in AIS-related water resources questions should start by identifying and coordinating with the appropriate WRRI, since the Institute is the eligible applicant and the required route for submission through Grants.gov.

• The Geological Survey in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH ACT PROGRAM NATIONAL COMPETITIVE GRANTS FY2025 PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT For AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.805.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-08-15.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-09-30. (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 $346,875.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for G25AS00483

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