Yuba River Flow Effects Modeling Understanding the Relationships of Habitat and Salmonid Life History in the Yuba | F18AS00204

Opportunity Information: Apply for F18AS00204

The grant opportunity titled "Yuba River Flow Effects Modeling: Understanding the Relationships of Habitat and Salmonid Life History in the Yuba" is a discretionary research grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service (CFDA 15.648). It was created on June 26, 2018, with an original application deadline of July 3, 2018. The program anticipated making a single award, with a maximum (ceiling) amount of $169,611. Eligible applicants were nonprofit organizations, including both 501(c)(3) nonprofits and nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status, as long as they were not institutions of higher education.

The project is focused on the lower Yuba River and is aimed at resolving a specific and contentious management problem: stakeholders do not agree on how much juvenile rearing habitat is actually available for fall-run and spring-run Chinook salmon, as well as steelhead, under different types of water years and under different flow schedules associated with the Yuba River Accord. Because flow releases strongly influence water depth, current velocity, habitat cover, and how long certain areas remain inundated, uncertainty about habitat availability makes it difficult to choose flow regimes that reliably support juvenile fish growth and survival. In practical terms, the grant is intended to produce defensible, flow-based habitat estimates that can be used in adaptive management decisions and to improve broader regional modeling efforts.

Task 1, which is the only task described in the text you provided (with additional tasks referenced as being in the full NOFO), centers on quantifying seasonal juvenile rearing habitat for Chinook salmon using habitat criteria that include depth, velocity, cover, and inundation duration. The emphasis is not simply on mapping where water is present, but on identifying where conditions meet biologically meaningful thresholds for rearing juveniles across seasons and hydrologic conditions. By building on prior work, the study is expected to estimate how much suitable rearing habitat is available under different flow levels, compare outcomes across water year types, and highlight where habitat deficits occur. This is framed as a high-priority improvement area for the Central Valley-wide DSM (a decision support or data/modeling framework referenced in the opportunity), meaning the results are intended to be usable beyond a single local study and to strengthen larger-scale planning tools.

The stated deliverable for Task 1 is a report titled "Rearing habitat availability and deficit on the lower Yuba River," with a completion date of September 30, 2019. That deliverable implies the output would likely include quantified habitat area or capacity estimates across flow scenarios, identification of limiting periods or locations, and documentation of methods robust enough to reduce disputes about the underlying numbers. The full scope includes three additional tasks that are not detailed in your excerpt but are referenced as being described in the official Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), suggesting the overall project extends beyond the Task 1 habitat quantification into additional modeling, analysis, or integration activities tied to salmonid life history and flow effects.

• The Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service in the environment, natural resources, science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Yuba River Flow Effects Modeling Understanding the Relationships of Habitat and Salmonid Life History in the Yuba" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.648.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 26, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 03, 2018. (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 $169,611.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

Apply for F18AS00204

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