Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Desert Southwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit | G23AS00383

Opportunity Information: Apply for G23AS00383

The US Geological Survey (USGS) is offering a discretionary funding opportunity under a cooperative agreement for an eligible partner within the Desert Southwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU). This opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number G23AS00383; CFDA 15.808) is focused on science and technology research that improves understanding of the processes and conditions that lead to landslides and, especially, post-wildfire debris flows in arid and semi-arid parts of the southwestern United States, including places such as Arizona. The work is tied to the USGS Landslide Hazard Program (LHP) and its broader goal of strengthening the nation’s ability to anticipate and reduce landslide-related risks.

A central theme of the project is the elevated debris-flow hazard that often follows wildfires. After a burn, landscapes can become more prone to rapid runoff, slope failure, and channelized flows of water, ash, sediment, and debris, particularly during intense rainstorms. The USGS is seeking research that improves the practical ability to forecast these hazards in burned areas, with an emphasis on methods that can be applied quickly and at useful spatial scales for decision-makers. The research is expected to advance techniques for rapidly mapping where debris flows are most likely, estimating how large they could be (potential volume), and describing how susceptibility changes over time as vegetation and soils recover after wildfire.

In addition to likelihood and volume mapping, the opportunity highlights the need to improve understanding and modeling of debris-flow runout and inundation. In other words, it is not only about whether a debris flow might initiate on a hillside or in a channel, but also where it could travel, how far it might go, and which downstream areas could be affected. This kind of runout and inundation information is often critical for emergency management, public safety messaging, and prioritizing mitigation actions such as warning systems, temporary closures, debris basins, or post-fire stabilization work.

Another key deliverable area is refining rainfall thresholds that trigger debris flows in post-wildfire terrain. The opportunity explicitly notes the operational connection to the National Weather Service (NWS), which uses rainfall threshold guidance as part of issuing warnings. Research supported by this award is intended to help produce more accurate and defensible triggering thresholds, improving confidence in when warnings should be issued and reducing the chances of either missed events or excessive false alarms. Because post-fire landscapes evolve over time, the work may also involve understanding how triggering thresholds shift as burn severity effects diminish and vegetation returns.

This award is issued through the CESU program, which is designed to connect federal agencies with partner organizations to provide research, technical assistance, and education. As a result, eligibility is limited: applicants must be participating partners of the Desert Southwest CESU. The funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, which typically means the USGS expects substantial involvement in the project during performance, such as collaboration on study design, data integration, interpretation, and translation of results into usable hazard products or decision-support tools.

The opportunity lists an award ceiling of $140,000 and an original closing date of June 23, 2023. Overall, the project is aimed at producing actionable advances in post-wildfire debris-flow hazard assessment in the arid Southwest, including faster and better hazard mapping, improved estimates of debris-flow magnitude, better characterization of downstream impacts, and stronger rainfall-trigger guidance that supports NWS warning decisions.

• The Geological Survey in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Cooperative Agreement for CESU-affiliated Partner with Desert Southwest Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.808.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-05-23.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-06-23. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $140,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for G23AS00383

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