Lewiston Orchards Well Engineering and Drilling | BOR PN 17 N019

Opportunity Information: Apply for BOR PN 17 N019

The Lewiston Orchards Well Engineering and Drilling opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number BOR PN 17 N019) is a discretionary grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, focused on natural resources work tied to a water-exchange arrangement in north-central Idaho. The project is grounded in the 2014 Term Sheet Water Exchange Appendix agreed to by the Bureau of Reclamation, the Nez Perce Tribe (NPT), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). That appendix lays out how irrigation water will be exchanged once new wells are completed, with the intent of protecting specific instream flows that support aquatic habitat and tribal resources while still meeting irrigation needs.

A central feature of the project is that each new well that comes online after the initial pilot well triggers additional water protections based on the well's full productive capacity. In this context, full productive capacity means the maximum sustained flow the well can deliver using the installed pumping system. That capacity is then translated into additional quantities of water that must be protected and left instream during a defined seasonal window, February through October. Because these exchange values can affect the Nez Perce Reservation and tribal trust resources, Reclamation is expected to act in its federal trustee role by consulting with the Nez Perce Tribe on the final timing and quantification of those exchange values, even though the notice states there is no anticipated direct involvement from Reclamation in carrying out the on-the-ground work under this particular funding piece.

Operationally, the project requires annual coordination among the Lewiston Orchards Irrigation District (LOID), NPT, NOAA, and Reclamation to set and document bypass flows at the Sweetwater and Webb Creek diversion dams. Bypass flows are the amounts deliberately left in the stream rather than diverted, and the group develops an annual plan that determines how to allocate available water between Sweetwater Creek and Webb Creek. The description notes that this planning and coordination approach was successfully implemented in spring 2017 for the pilot well, and this grant supports the next steps associated with expanding well infrastructure under the same framework.

The requested funding is specifically aimed at the well drilling portion of the broader effort and is intended to be braided with other funding sources, including Reclamation support, the Idaho Office of Species Conservation (Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund), and Bureau of Indian Affairs climate change funds. The structure described is that the Nez Perce Tribe would use this grant funding through a subcontract arrangement with LOID to carry out the drilling-related work. LOID is identified as the primary entity for the overall project and the lead for project activities, meaning LOID manages implementation while the tribe participates through the funding and coordination mechanisms described.

Key administrative details include an award ceiling of $200,000, an original application closing date of September 19, 2017, and eligibility limited to federally recognized Native American tribal governments. The program is listed under CFDA 15.517 and uses the grant funding instrument. Overall, the opportunity supports engineering and drilling actions that enable a staged transition to groundwater supply while formalizing and increasing instream flow protections tied directly to each well's pumping capability and the agreed seasonal protection period.

• The Bureau of Reclamation in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Lewiston Orchards Well Engineering and Drilling" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.517.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-09-05.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-09-19. (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 $200,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized).

Apply for BOR PN 17 N019

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