Cooperative Agreement for Affiliated Partner with the Colorado Plateau Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU)
The U.S. Geological Survey seeks a Colorado Plateau Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit partner to use lidar to assess floodplain connectivity and riverscape health across the Great Basin.
Funder: U.S. Geological Survey
Due Dates: November 14, 2026 (Applications, 11:59 p.m. ET)
Funding Amounts: $1–$90,000 award range; one anticipated five-year cooperative agreement; $16,990 estimated for Year 1
Summary: Supports lidar-based research to improve floodplain connectivity assessments and riverscape health across the Great Basin.
Key Information: Applicants must be participating partners of the Colorado Plateau Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU).
Description
The U.S. Geological Survey’s Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NOROCK) offers this cooperative agreement to improve assessments of floodplain connectivity and riverscape health. The project will use existing USGS lidar elevation datasets to extend assessments beyond the spatial limits of field-based approaches and identify factors limiting healthy riverscapes across the Great Basin.
The CESU partner will collaborate with NOROCK’s research fisheries biologist on workflows, comparisons with existing methods, or continuous estimates of floodplain connectivity. Results are intended to help direct river and riparian restoration resources and support assessments involving drought, land management, and fish and wildlife populations. NOROCK and partner biologists and geomorphologists will work with federal and state agencies and nongovernmental organizations to make the approaches and data accessible, scalable, and transferable.
