Deadline: 10-Apr-23

The Water Research Foundation (WRF) has announced the proposals for Establishing a Framework for Integrating Stormwater Capture and Use into Water Supply Planning Project.

This project is funded by The Water Research Foundation (WRF) as part of WRF’s Emerging Opportunities Program.

Project Objectives 

• Identify the primary drivers for stormwater capture for water supply, through augmentation or offsetting of existing supplies, and factors that influence the drivers.
• Identify approaches and opportunities for developing new stormwater capture and use projects or retrofitting existing stormwater infrastructure to augment water supplies, as well as proven methods for the quantification of the new supply.
• Assess key factors for integrating stormwater into water supplies and water supply planning, and identify barriers that will need to be addressed in the planning process.
• Key factors and challenges related to stormwater capture and use should extend beyond technical considerations (e.g., meeting the needs of multiple agencies and partners, providing multiple benefits, making a successful business case, water quality concerns, regulatory context, water rights, challenges in management of the supply, etc.).
• Develop a framework for evaluating the use of stormwater as a water supply.
• Provide guidance for establishing a common language and understanding across different agencies and parties meeting varying regulatory obligations, considering the differences in drivers, approaches, key factors, and challenges identified above.
• Identify pathways to bridge knowledge gaps and facilitate data sharing and technical collaboration, utilizing the established common understanding, to enhance implementation of stormwater capture projects.
• Showcase successful instances of multi-agency participation and partnership for stormwater capture and use as a new supply, highlighting how collaboration was achieved and how a successful business case was made for each project.

Research Approach 

This RFP is intentionally flexible in the research approach to encourage creativity and originality from proposers. Proposers should describe how they will conduct the research to meet the objectives listed above. The proposed research approach should include consideration of the following:

• The full range of stormwater capture and use project types and end uses.
• The influence of location, agency or entity type, project end use and end goal, and regulatory context on project drivers and barriers.
• The following items should be considered in the research approach as a starting point:
• Complete a review of recent studies and practices on stormwater capture in water supply planning.
• Evaluate local efforts to enhance interagency collaboration for stormwater capture and use, and derive lessons learned to help others build institutional capacity.
• Identify case study examples where stormwater was incorporated into water supply planning.

Funding Information

• Applicants may request up to $150,000 in WRF funds for this project.
• The anticipated period of performance for this project is 18 months from the contract start date.

Expected Deliverables 

• Develop a guiding framework for integrating stormwater capture and use into water supply planning.
• Develop case studies of communities that have successfully integrated stormwater capture into their water supplies.
• Showcase successful water agency participation and partnerships in stormwater capture to generate new supplies.

Eligibility Criteria

Proposals will be accepted from domestic or international entities, including educational institutions, research organizations, governmental agencies, and consultants or other for-profit entities.

For more information, visit Water Research Foundation.