Water-Related Funding
Opportunities
Every year, the Colorado Water Center and partner organizations provide funding to catalyze innovative water research, education, and engagement.
Colorado Water Center CSU grant program
Funding water research, extension, and education projects through our land-grant mission. This grant program invests in transdisciplinary collaborations and partnerships that ultimately lead to a more holistic understanding of water resource issues, and to integrate translation of this understanding into the water resource profession, as well as educate the future water workforce.
CWCB water research seed grants
The Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) Seed Research Program was established in 2012 to support the development of water resources research, outreach, and education programs that aid the CWCB in fulfilling its mission. The Seed Research program is open to Faculty, Extension personnel, and Researchers at any institution of higher education in Colorado that has the capacity to support research, information dissemination, and graduate training programs that can address Colorado’s most pressing water resource challenges.
CWCB Water Research Seed Grants FY27 Awardees
| Proposal Title | Amount Requested | Applicant |
|---|---|---|
| Characterizing Water Use Intensity of Data Centers and Assessing Pathways for Water Self-Sufficiency | $50,000 | Mazdak Arabi, CSU |
| Streamflow changes after fire: connections to snow and vegetation recovery | $49,744 | Stephanie Kampf, CSU |
| Evaluation of stream recovery following wildfire | $50,000 | Dan Preston, CSU |
| Follow the Energy: Electricity, Heat, and Water Flows through Data Centers in Colorado | $50,000 | David C. Mays, CU Denver |
USGS graduate student research grants
The USGS 104b program, funded by US Geological Survey/National Institutes for Water Resources (USGS/NIWR), encourages and supports graduate student research in disciplines relevant to water resources issues and assists Colorado institutions of higher education in developing student research expertise and capabilities. It is intended to help students initiate research projects or to supplement existing student projects in water resources research.
- 2026 USGS 104b graduate student research RFP (submission window has closed)
USGS 104b Graduate Student Research Grants FY27 Awardees
| Proposal Title | Amount Requested | Grad Student | Advisor |
|---|---|---|---|
| High Water Age and Booster Impacts on The Formation of Unregulated Disinfection Byproduct of Under-resourced Rural Communities in Colorado | $10,000 | Abdulrahman Aljadani, CU Boulder | Sheldon Masters, CU Boulder |
| Emerging snow drought and implications for future water availability in the Upper Colorado River Basin | $10,000 | Sydney Carr, CU Boulder | Keith Musselman, CU Boulder |
| Quantifying the Effects of Forest Management on Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) in Lodgepole Pine (Pinus contorta) Forests | $10,000 | Jocelyn Cramer, CSU | Steven Fassnacht, CSU |
| Water Rights, Water Rates: How Seniority Under Colorado’s Prior Appropriation Doctrine Shapes Municipal Water Pricing and Drought Response | $10,000 | Catherine Grant, CSU | Jordan Suter, CSU |
| Quantifying Groundwater Response to Low-tech process-based restoration (LTPBR) in a Colorado Headwater Stream Using Coupled Hydrodynamic–Groundwater Modeling Informed by Geophysical Characterization | $9,734 | Rafin Hasan, CSU | Antonio Alves Meira Neto, CSU |
| Mechanistic Insights into Pipe Scale Changes During Corrosion Control Transitions Using Novel Material Characterization | $10,000 | Quinn Hiatt, CU Boulder | Sheldon Masters, CU Boulder |
| Water quality and quantity responses to lawn irrigation and low-impact development in a semi-arid urban watershed | $10,000 | Marguerite Lorenzo, CU Boulder | Aditi Bhaskar, CU Boulder |
| Chlorine Dioxide Preoxidation and Unregulated Disinfection Byproduct Formation: Implications for Drinking Water Risk in Colorado | $10,000 | Miles Salzer, CU Boulder | Sheldon Masters, CU Boulder |
| Constraining the recharge elevations of groundwater in the Denver Basin Aquifer System | $9,999 | Adam Walsh, CSU | Jeremy Rugenstein, CSU |