Washington State water research community,
USGS in cooperation with the National Institutes of Water Resources (NIWR) has released their annual request for water research proposals under its National Competitive Grants Program. These programs include a call for general water research proposals, under the WRRA 104g program, a program specifically for research on Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and a program on Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS, though this third program focuses on the Mississippi basin). You can read more here: https://water.usgs.gov/wrri/how-to-apply-for-grants-internships.php.
Any investigator at an institution of higher learning is eligible to apply for these grants with research that focuses on priorities of regional and national importance. If you are working through an institution in Washington State, you must submit your proposal for these programs through the State of Washington Water Research Center (WRC, wrc.wsu.edu).
For more information about the funding opportunities see https://water.usgs.gov/wrri/how-to-apply-for-grants-internships.php or contact your state institute.
The WRC Director Jonathan Yoder met with Washington State federal legislators this February, and nearly all legislative offices he visited independently brought up PFAS concerns, so there is a great deal of interest in this water problem in the State of Washington. I strongly encourage researchers interested in developing proposals for PFAS-related projects to contact me early. This program is relatively new and has received relatively few proposals in previous years, so the chances of success are higher than for the WRRA 104g grants.
Please contact us at watercenter@wsu.edu if you have questions or interest in submitting a proposal.