The NGWMN is designed as a cooperative groundwater data collection, management, and reporting system that aggregates data from selected wells and springs in existing Federal, State, Tribal, and local groundwater monitoring networks. The Network is envisioned as a long-term collaborative partnership among Federal and non-Federal data providers that will help address present and future groundwater management questions facing the Nation.

The USGS National Ground-Water Monitoring Network (NGWMN) has been offering funding to agencies to participate in the NGWMN since Federal Fiscal Year 2015. Documents describing the projects funded through the NGWMN Cooperative Agreements for each year are listed below:

2024 Funding Opportunity

The USGS National Groundwater Monitoring Network (NGWMN) Cooperative Funding Opportunity for 2024 to support the NWGMN will open in late September 2023. Applications will be submitted on Grants.gov. More information will follow once the funding opportunity is open.

2023 Funding Opportunity

The NGWMN funding opportunity for 2023 will be open from September 30, 2022 through January 26, 2023.  

The funding will be for a 2-year period beginning in July 2023. Cooperative agreements will provide support for both new and existing data providers in the NGWMN. The USGS will fund new data providers to select and classify sites within existing monitoring programs, to set up web services that will link the data to the NGWMN Portal, and to produce a report describing this process. Existing data providers can apply for funding to maintain web services and keep site information current. Data providers may also apply for funding to collect data to improve site information, to maintain wells, to drill new or replacement Network wells, or purchase continuous water-level monitoring equipment for the NGWMN. 

Interested agencies can apply online at grants.gov under under funding opportunity number G23AS00358. Applications will be accepted from September 30, 2022 through January 26, 2023. Applications will only be accepted electronically through Grants.gov; paper copies will not be accepted. The Program Announcement contains the requirements and other guidance for submitting proposals.  

Three webinars are scheduled to provide information to applicants.  

• October 19th at 1 pm ET
• November 17th at 2 pm ET
• December 14th at 1 pm ET

A PDF file of the most recent information session is available here.

One of the biggest changes to the 2023 Program Announcement is the requirement to submit a NGWMN Proposal Checklist as part of the proposal. This new requirement, along with other changes to the Program Announcement will be discussed at the NGWMN information sessions.

If you have questions about the National Ground-Water Monitoring Network Program, please contact: 

Jason Fine  (919) 818-6969 (cell)  jmfine@usgs.gov

  or

Daryll Pope  (609) 462-7119 (cell)  dpope@usgs.gov 

 Resources for Proposals

• The PDF of the NGWMN 2023 Program Announcement is available here. 

• A one page information sheet about the NGWMN 2023 Funding Opportunity that can be shared with interested parties is available here.

• The NGWMN Proposal checklist is available in both PDF and Excel formats.

• A spreadsheet with the template for the detailed budgets is available here. 

• A spreadsheet with the example budgets included in the Program Announcement is available here. 

• A shapefile of NGWMN sites as of September 20, 2022 is available here.   Instructions on how to download a shapefile of NGWMN is available in this NGWMN Tip Sheet.