Opportunity Information: Apply for BOR PN 19 N014
The Early Detection Surveys for Quagga and Zebra Mussels grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number BOR PN 19 N014) is a Bureau of Reclamation financial assistance award under the U.S. Department of the Interior focused on invasive species prevention in the Columbia River Basin. The main purpose is to fund Portland State University (PSU), specifically its Center for Lakes and Reservoirs, to carry out targeted early detection monitoring for dreissenid mussels (quagga and zebra mussels) in high-priority, high-risk water bodies across the basin. The work is framed as proactive surveillance: finding mussels early, while populations are small or before they establish, so that managers have the best chance to respond quickly and limit ecological and infrastructure damage.
The project centers on PSU using an established risk-based list of water bodies within the Columbia River Basin and then coordinating with relevant partner agencies to decide which sites will be sampled. This coordination element is important because it ties the university-led field effort to real management needs, ensuring that survey locations reflect current risk pathways (such as boating traffic and connected waterways) and agency priorities. In practice, PSU serves as the technical survey team while working alongside agencies that oversee water resources, recreation, and invasive species programs.
Field monitoring is designed to detect multiple mussel life stages, including veligers (the microscopic planktonic larvae), juveniles, and adults. To cover different habitats where mussels can settle or drift, PSU uses a combination of visual and tactile searches and several sampling tools suited to specific environments. The opportunity description emphasizes hands-on inspection methods such as shoreline walks, turning over rocks, picking up and checking submerged objects, and physically feeling along the undersides of floating infrastructure like dock floats and buoys, where mussels commonly attach. This reflects how early infestations can be missed if surveys focus only on one habitat type.
The sampling plan is broken out by habitat and surface type. Hard submerged structures such as pilings and concrete walls are checked using a surface scraper to remove and inspect any attached organisms. Aquatic vegetation is sampled with a thatch plant rake to pull plants up for inspection, since juveniles can be present on plant surfaces or in tangled roots. Benthic (bottom) habitats are sampled using a sediment dredge and/or by deploying artificial settlement substrates that provide standardized surfaces for mussels to colonize, which can be retrieved and inspected later. Adult mussels that are found are examined in the field to support rapid preliminary identification.
To detect veligers, PSU crews collect plankton samples using a 64-micron plankton net, deployed either from a boat or from a suitable shore location depending on access and site conditions. Plankton tows taken at each sampling location are composited in the field, preserved, and transported back to the laboratory for microscopic examination. This lab step is key because veligers are too small for typical visual shoreline inspections, and microscopic review increases the odds of detecting low-density or newly introduced populations.
In addition to traditional field and microscope-based approaches, the project includes collecting samples for environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis, which PSU will also analyze. eDNA sampling is meant to pick up genetic traces organisms leave behind in the water, offering another early warning tool that can complement physical searches and plankton microscopy, especially when mussels are present at extremely low levels. Using multiple detection methods in parallel strengthens overall confidence in results and helps reduce the chance that an early-stage infestation is overlooked.
Because invasive species monitoring can unintentionally spread organisms between sites, the grant description highlights decontamination as a required operational practice. Field equipment is decontaminated on site to prevent transferring living organisms as well as genetic material between water bodies and between samples. This is especially relevant when eDNA is part of the workflow, since contamination can lead to misleading detections if strict cleaning and handling protocols are not followed.
Administratively, this opportunity is categorized as a mandatory grant within an environmental funding activity area (CFDA 15.517). Eligible applicants are public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, with the described project explicitly tied to PSU. The opportunity was created on July 2, 2019, with an original closing date of July 16, 2019. Funding is relatively small and targeted, with an award ceiling of $64,766 and one expected award, indicating a focused, single-recipient effort rather than a broad competitive program. The narrative also notes that the request was originally submitted through the Western Governors Association as part of the Department of the Interior's Invasive Mussels Initiative, positioning it within a wider regional strategy to prevent the spread of quagga and zebra mussels in western waters.
Overall, the grant supports a practical, field-heavy early detection program led by PSU that combines shoreline and infrastructure inspections, bottom and vegetation sampling, plankton net tows with lab microscopy, and eDNA analysis. The intended outcome is better situational awareness in high-risk waters of the Columbia River Basin and faster detection of dreissenid mussels before they become established, backed by standardized methods, interagency coordination, and careful biosecurity practices.Apply for BOR PN 19 N014
- The Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation in the environment sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Early Detection Surveys for Quagga and Zebra Mussels" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.517.
- This funding opportunity was created on Jul 02, 2019.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 16, 2019. (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 $64,766.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.
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