Operation and Maintenance of Continuous Water Quality Monitoring Stations at Padre Island National Seashore | NPS NOI 15 CESU 77299

Opportunity Information: Apply for NPS NOI 15 CESU 77299

The National Park Service opportunity titled "Operation and Maintenance of Continuous Water Quality Monitoring Stations at Padre Island National Seashore" (Funding Opportunity Number: NPS NOI 15 CESU 77299) is a Notice of Intent to make a single, non-competitive award rather than an open solicitation. It is being issued under the Gulf Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) Master Cooperative Agreement (P12AC51051) and follows Department of the Interior policy cited as 505 Departmental Manual 2.12C. The funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, and the activity area is natural resources under CFDA 15.945.

The core purpose of the task agreement is to keep continuous, real-time water quality monitoring operating in and around Padre Island National Seashore, specifically focused on the Upper Laguna Madre. The project is designed to ensure that an ongoing, reliable stream of water quality data is available for multiple audiences: members of the public who want to see current environmental conditions, park managers who need timely information for resource protection and operational decisions, and researchers who depend on consistent datasets for scientific analysis. The emphasis on "continuous" and "real-time" monitoring signals that this work is about sustaining and operating existing monitoring capacity, not just conducting a one-time sampling effort.

Beyond providing current-condition reporting, the monitoring record is intended to serve as a long-term foundation for related biological monitoring and research. In practice, that means the water quality dataset supports interpretation of ecological trends and can be paired with studies of plants, fish, invertebrates, algal dynamics, and other biological indicators that respond to changing water conditions. Long-duration datasets are especially valuable in coastal lagoon systems like the Upper Laguna Madre because conditions can shift quickly with weather, freshwater inflows, tides, and seasonal cycles, and because long-term records help distinguish short-term variability from persistent changes.

A third major component is the collection of monthly grab samples for key nutrients. These samples are tied to nutrient priorities identified by the federal and state consortium operating through the Gulf of Mexico Alliance, supporting broader Gulf-wide nutrient assessments. Grab sampling complements continuous sensor monitoring because it can capture laboratory-analyzed nutrient parameters that are not always measured directly by in-water sondes, and it helps with calibration, validation, and broader comparability across monitoring programs.

Administratively, this announcement is not a request for applications and does not invite competition. The National Park Service indicates it expects one award and that it will be made as a single-source task agreement to Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. The posted "OriginalClosingDate" of 2015-09-15 functions more as a notice timeline marker than an application deadline, since the agency is explicitly stating the award will be non-competitive. The listing also shows an award ceiling of 0, which typically indicates that the public-facing summary does not specify a maximum dollar amount in the standard field, rather than implying there is no funding associated with the work.

In short, the opportunity is a targeted, non-competitive cooperative agreement action to keep continuous water quality monitoring stations functioning at Padre Island National Seashore, ensure real-time data dissemination and long-term recordkeeping for management and science, and perform monthly nutrient sampling aligned with Gulf-wide assessment priorities, with the work designated to be carried out by Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi under the Gulf Coast CESU framework.

• The National Park Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Operation and Maintenance of Continuous Water Quality Monitoring Stations at Padre Island National Seashore" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.945.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2015-09-06.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2015-09-15. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for NPS NOI 15 CESU 77299

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