2023 Columbia Basin Water Transactions Program (US)

Deadline: 18-May-22

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) is requesting proposals to enhance, restore, and protect stream flows for key fish habitat in the Columbia Basin.

The Columbia Basin Water Transaction Program (CBWTP) funds water transactions development and implementation in the United States portion of the Columbia Basin and is the largest voluntary instream flow restoration program in the country.

Program Priorities

Competitive programmatic proposals will be sub-basin focused and will address species of concern and flow limitations, while also demonstrating innovation, and incorporating a monitoring plan.

• Species of concern: Proposals must showcase how the applicant will work toward addressing the conservation needs of one or more species of concern through water transaction implementation. Flow limitations: The proposals must articulate an organizational competency in securing water for in-stream tributary flows at a location(s) where low flows are a limiting factor to fish survival, productivity, and distribution and for the maximum reach of river legally and physically possible.
• Prioritization: Proposals should clearly articulate the prioritization efforts for each subbasin both historic and future. Prioritization efforts should show the hierarchical planning that has gone into the selection of subbasins, streams, and water rights/properties/landowners.
• Existing plans: If prioritization plans have been completed, describe how those are used in transaction development and planning.
• New plans: If prioritization plans have not been developed, describe how you will utilize the budget to develop them.
• Adaptive management: Demonstrate how your efforts are moving beyond preliminary practices and proof of concept methods.
• Innovation: Where possible, proposals should demonstrate how the applicant plans to implement innovative methods to increase tributary flows during critical periods for targeted species.
• Monitoring: The proposal should document how compliance and implementation monitoring will be carried out and reported via the CBWTP’s Flow Restoration Accounting Framework (FRAF) compliance monitoring forms (subject to change from previous years).
• Watershed context: The proposal should describe collaborative efforts with other entities and document how opportunities for cost-sharing, data sharing and collaboration were considered and developed.
• Organizational Breadth:  Applicants must show that their organization has experience building trust with landowners and implementing water transactions in the identified watersheds.
• Community Impact and Engagement: Projects that incorporate outreach to communities, foster community engagement, and pursue collaborative management leading to measurable conservation benefits are encouraged.

Funding Information

Geographic Focus