The NOAA Climate Program Office released its FY16 solicitation for research proposals under its many funding programs. Two programs of interest to water utilities are the Sectoral Applications Research Program (SARP) and the Regional and Integrated Sciences Assessment (RISA) program. Project letters of intent must be submitted by July 30.
SARP, as described on NOAA’s website, supports interdisciplinary research to advance understanding of how climate variability and change affect key sectors, and the current focus is the water resources sector. SARP works with scientists and decision makers to develop new tools and methodologies that can be incorporated into climate-related decisions. SARP proposals are being sought in two areas: 1) projects that advance water sector preparedness and adaptation for extreme events; and 2) projects that support the NIDIS Coping with Drought initiative.
The RISA program consists of research hubs, usually centered at a university, that work to build the nation's capacity to plan for and adapt to climate change. RISAs engage with user communities to develop services and tools to support decision-making and to support networks working to move from an understanding of climate science to implementation actions. Proposals are being sought for four existing RISAs (Alaska, California/Nevada, Carolinas and the Southeast – i.e., Georgia, Florida and Alabama) as well as two new regions: the Mid-Atlantic (including the Chesapeake Bay watershed) and the Midwest.