WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH ACT PROGRAM NATIONAL COMPETITIVE GRANTS FY2026 (104g General)
The U.S. Geological Survey offers fiscal year 2026 national competitive grants under the Water Resources Research Act for Water Resources Research Institutes.
Funder: Geological Survey
Due Dates: November 12, 2026, before 5:00 PM Eastern Time (Full application)
Funding Amounts: Up to $120,000 per award; $462,500 total estimated funding; anticipated three-year project period
Summary: Supports AI- and machine-learning-enabled methods to observe, estimate, and validate industrial water use, particularly data centers.
Key Information: Only Water Resources Research Institutes established under the Water Resources Research Act of 1984 may apply.
Description
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) administers this national competitive grant program under Section 104(g) of the Water Resources Research Act. This competition focuses on improving information about water use by data centers and other water-intensive industries drawing from public supply systems. It supports development, testing, and demonstration of observational and analytical methods that reduce uncertainty about withdrawals, cooling demands, and local impacts.
Proposals must integrate diverse data sources and apply artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve transparency, traceability, and identification of bias or uncertainty. Methods should address reuse, self-supply, seasonal variability, and future usage scenarios, with independent validation and clear performance metrics. The goal is a scalable, transparent framework supporting national assessments and local decisions, developed with federal partners, utilities, regional planning bodies, and industry representatives.
