USGS Seeks National Ground-Water Monitoring Network Proposals for 2017

The U.S. Geological Survey will award up to $2 million in cooperative agreements to support participation in the National Ground-Water Monitoring Network (NGWMN).

The USGS is working with the Federal Advisory Committee on Water Information’s (ACWI) Subcommittee on Ground Water (SOGW) to develop and administer the NGWMN.  The NGWMN is designed as a cooperative groundwater data collection, management, and reporting system that will be based on data from selected wells 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 NGWMN will provide the data needed to determine regional and national trends in groundwater levels and groundwater quality, and facilitate the evaluation of transboundary groundwater resources.

Cooperative agreements will provide support for both new and existing data providers in the NGWMN. The USGS will fund new data providers to (1) select and classify sites within existing monitoring programs, (2) set up web services that will link the data to the NGWMN Portal, and (3) produce a report describing this process.

Existing data providers will receive funds to maintain web services and keep site information current. Data providers may also receive funding to collect data to improve site information, to maintain wells, and to drill new or replacement Network wells. Information about the cooperative agreements is available on the NGWMN Cooperative Agreements page.

Interested agencies may apply online at GRANTS.GOV under funding opportunity number G17AS00009. Applications will be accepted from October 27, 2016 through January 27, 2017. 

Two Webinars are scheduled to review the application package and answer any question about the opportunity. These are scheduled for November 10^th at 1 pm EST and December 14^th at 2 pm EST. Registration for the webinars is required. After your registration is accepted, you will receive meeting information. You may register for the webinars at:

November 10^th    link  

December 14^th    link

Since the program began in 2015, Twenty-four State agencies have either completed the process of becoming a data provider to the NGWMN or have an ongoing project to become a data provider. Once the agency is providing data to the NGWMN, they can receive support to maintain the web services connections to the NGWMN Data Portal.

State agencies are also working on projects to enhance the NGWMN by updating information at Network sites, performing well maintenance activities at Network sites, or drilling wells for the Network. Descriptions of projects that were funded by the NGWMN to support data providers in 2016 are available here.  Federal agencies also serve as data providers to the NGWMN.

The National Ground-Water Monitoring Network is sponsoring a joint meeting of the ACWI Subcommittee on Ground-Water (SOGW) and NGWMN Data providers in conjunction with the National Ground Water Associations’ Groundwater Week being held in Las Vegas, Nevada during the week of December 5^th, 2016. The purpose of the meeting is to conduct SOGW business and to update the SOGW and data providers on the activities of the NGWMN. The meeting is open to the public, including future data providers.  Updated meeting details are available on the Advisory Committee on Water Information web pages.