Combining research, education, technology and outreach capabilities, the Michigan State University Institute of Water Research (IWR) is committed to addressing our most pressing water problems and providing smarter water management for a multitude of stakeholders.

The U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the National Institutes for Water Resources requests proposals for matching grants to support research on the topic of improving and enhancing the nation’s water supply, including:

• evaluation of innovative approaches to water treatment, infrastructure design, retrofitting, maintenance, management, and replacement
• exploration and advancement of our understanding of changes in the quantity and quality of water resources in response to a changing climate, population shifts, and land use changes
• development of methods for better estimation of water supply, both surface and groundwater, including estimation of the physical supply and of the economic supply of water
• development and evaluation of processes and governance mechanisms for integrated surface/ground water management
• and the evaluation and assessment of conservation practices.

More information is available at: http://water.usgs.gov/wrri/FY_2016_RFP_104g.pdf Any investigator at an accredited institution of higher learning in the United States is eligible to apply for a grant through a Water Research Institute or Center established under the provisions of the Water Resources Research Act of 1984, as amended (http://water.usgs.gov/wrri/institutes.html). Proposals involving substantial collaboration between the USGS and university scientists are encouraged. Proposals may be for projects of 1 to 3 years in duration and may request up to $250,000 in federal funds. Successful applicants must match each dollar of the federal grant with one dollar from non-federal sources. Please remember the 104(g) is a two step application process. Proposals must be filed on the Internet at https://niwr.net/ by 5:00 PM, Eastern Time, Thursday, February 25, 2016, and must be approved for submission to the National Competitive Grants Program not later than 5:00 PM, Eastern Time, Thursday, March 17, 2016, by the Institute or Center through which they were submitted. The SF-424 (Application for Federal Assistance) and SF-424B (Assurances) portion of the application package must be submitted through the Internet site at http://www.grants.gov not later than 5:00 PM Eastern Time, Thursday, March 17, 2016 by the university at which the Institute or Center is located. Funds have not yet been appropriated for this program for FY 2016. The Government's obligation under this program is contingent upon the availability of funds.

GIS Specialist Glenn O'Neil presented at the 2015 International Soil & Water Assessment Tool Conference, October 12-16 at Purdue University, on Mapping Ground Water Recharge Rates in Southwest Michigan under Multiple Future Climate Simulations. The full abstract is available below. This study used the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to map rates of ground water recharge under various projections of future climate in Southwest Michigan. The following five river basins were modeled with SWAT: the Kalamazoo, the Paw Paw, the headwaters of the St. Joseph (of Indiana and Michigan), the Thornapple, and Upper Dowagiac. Each model was developed using observed weather data from 1995 to 2010, which were originally interpolated to grid points by Maurer et al. (2002). To best simulate ground water hydrology within SWAT, the models were calibrated at multiple USGS stream gages to base flow conditions. The models were also adjusted to align with published rates of evapotranspiration, published estimates of base flow separation, irrigation rates reported to Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, and county-level crop yield estimates. The models were then run forward with future climate data organized and down-scaled by Hayhoe et al. (2013) to the grid points generated by Maurer et al. These climate projections included 10 different models, each under two to three different scenarios (A1B, A1fi, A2, B1). SWAT outputs projected overall increases in ground water recharge rates through the end of the century, mainly attributable to increases in precipitation within the different climate scenarios. However, recharge rates increased sharply towards the end of the century in climate scenarios in which CO2 is projected to be high (A1fi). These higher rates were attributable to decreases in projections of evapotranspiration, which were due to decreasing leaf conductance as CO2 levels rose. For more information about the conference, click here.

The Institute of Water Research, supported by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Great Lakes Commission, organized a one-day workshop to discuss the potential for incorporating economic information into decision support tools (DSS). The workshop convened a total of 20 experts in the areas of economics, conservation, and technology to gather information about DSS usage and current efforts to incorporate economics into DSS for improving conservation decisions. A white paper was recently released which highlights key findings from the workshop and discusses economics for conservation and the potential for incorporating various economic data into DSS. Download the paper here.

The Institute of Water Research and Michigan Chapter of The Nature Conservancy were invited to present to the President's Council of Environmental Quality on October 5, 2015. Jeremiah Asher, Director of Information Technology at the Institute, presented with Patrick Doran and Richard Bowman of The Nature Conservancy about integrated information technologies and partnering approaches being used in Michigan which are resulting in more effective programs for maintaining nutrients on the land and out of the Great Lakes.