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Federal agencies announce their IIJA and IRA grant opportunities once or twice a year. Grants are usually complex and have short application deadlines. ODFW closely monitors all funding opportunities and breaks down the information to help our partners stay informed on current and upcoming natural resource-related funding opportunities.
Enhancing Water Resources Projects:
The WaterSMART Enhancing Water Resources Projects funding opportunity supports collaboratively developed projects that benefit multiple water users, improve water supply reliability, and enhance watershed health. (Note: this funding opportunity was previously known as Environmental Water Resources Projects)
Applicants are invited to leverage their money and resources by cost sharing with Reclamation for on-the-ground water resource actions, including watershed restoration and fish passage projects, water management or infrastructure improvements, and water conservation and efficiency efforts. All projects must provide quantifiable benefits to watershed health and should benefit multiple water users or interest groups.
There will be two rounds of funding under the opportunity. The first round will close Wednesday September 9th, 2026, and the second round will close Wednesday September 8th, 2027. Applicants are encouraged to review the full funding opportunity announcements on grants.gov under R26AS00017.
Reclamation will host a webinar on Tuesday June 16th, 2026 at 1:00pm MDT to share more information on the WaterSMART Enhancing Water Resources Projects funding opportunity. The webinar will cover eligible applicants, project types, and the application process. Interested applicants will have the opportunity to ask questions at the end of the webinar.
In addition, prospective applicants may schedule a consultation call with the Program Coordinator to discuss project fit and get answers to more specific questions. Please use the Microsoft Bookings service linked here to set up a call with Reclamation staff.
Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration's National Culvert Removal, Replacement, and Restoration
(Culvert Aquatic Organism Passage) funding opportunity
The purpose of the Culvert AOP Competitive Grant Program is to provide funding to eligible entities (States, local unit
of government, and Tribes) for the replacement, removal, and repair of culverts or weirs that meaningfully improve or
restore fish passage for anadromous fish.
DOT has combined the remaining money (FYs2023-FY2026) from IIJA into one NOFO, so this NOFO includes funding of up to
$800 million. DOT may also award any remaining and available funds from FY 2022 under this opportunity. Culvert AOP
Competitive Grant Program funds are available until expended. This program does not have an obligation deadline nor an
expenditure deadline.
Open: June 2, 2026 Applications are due July 16, 2026.
More information can be accessed here.
Bureau of Reclamation Applied Science Grants
Provides funding for projects that develop tools and information to support water management decisions and enhance
hydrologic resilience.
The Applied Science Grants funding opportunity is available on grants.gov by searching for opportunity number
R25AS00280. There are two rounds of applications for
this funding opportunity. The first round is due by July 8, 2026,
at 4pm MDT and the second round is due by April 13, 2027, by 4pm MDT.
Bureau of Reclamation Drought Response Program
Assists communities in preparing for and responding to drought, including drought contingency planning and construction
of drought resilience projects.
The Drought Response Program funding opportunity is available on grants.gov by searching for opportunity number
R26AS00016. Applications are due by July 28, 2026, at 4pm MDT.
To help ODFW and partners to plan for upcoming funding opportunities, and strategize which projects would be the most competitive for each grant program, we developed the following calendar of natural resource-related IIJA and IRA funding opportunities by season. Not all grant announcements (NOFOs) are consistent year-to-year, but most have established a general season where they anticipate to make the announcement of eligible funding.
Funding opportunites that are currently open are listed above.
For a complete list of opportunities, visit https://www.grants.gov/
Visit Grants.gov for more information on IIJA grant opportunities, enter ‘Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act’ or ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ in the keyword search. You can also subscribe to grant updates.
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