National Park Service- Yellowstone Controlled Ground Water Area Long Term Monitoring | NPSP17AC00334

Opportunity Information: Apply for NPSP17AC00334

The National Park Service opportunity titled "National Park Service- Yellowstone Controlled Ground Water Area Long Term Monitoring" (Funding Announcement Number NPSP17AC00334) is a Notice of Intent to Award, not an open solicitation. In other words, the public notice is simply informing people that NPS plans to fund a specific task agreement under an existing cooperative agreement framework, rather than asking for new applications. The anticipated federal funding amount is $122,877, with a performance period running from January 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017. The intended recipient is the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology (MBMG), and the award instrument is a task agreement issued under Cooperative Agreement Number P13AC00350. The statutory authority cited is 54 U.S.C. Sections 100301-100302, and it is listed under CFDA 15.915 (Technical Preservation Services). The NPS point of contact is Tina Holland (tinaholland@nps.gov, 307-344-2082).

The core purpose of the project is protecting Yellowstone National Park's world-unique hydrothermal and geothermal system, especially along the park's northern boundary where groundwater conditions outside the park can still influence resources inside the park. The monitoring work is tied directly to the Yellowstone Controlled Groundwater Area (YCGA), which was created by the State of Montana immediately adjacent to Yellowstone. The YCGA exists because the geothermal system does not stop at legal boundaries, and the goal is to ensure that groundwater development, particularly the production of thermal waters in Montana near the park, does not harm or alter Yellowstone's geothermal features. This effort operates within the framework of the Water Rights Compact executed on January 31, 1994 by the National Park Service, the State of Montana, and the Department of Justice, and it aligns with the administrative and research responsibilities spelled out in the United States Park Service - Montana Compact (Montana Code 85-20-401). A key expectation under the compact is that MBMG maintains an adequate YCGA database that includes water chemistry, temperature, well depth, well capacity, and well location.

The statement of work focuses on long-term, repeatable monitoring of groundwater and spring systems to track both quantity and quality, detect changes over time, and support interpretation of how groundwater movement near the boundary might connect to Yellowstone thermal resources. MBMGs long-term program is designed to phase in monitoring of up to 35 wells and springs; at the time of this task, MBMG is monitoring 34 sites total, made up of 20 wells, 1 piezometer, and 13 springs. The monitoring network can change during the year if landowners withdraw access or if MBMG recommends adjustments, as long as the Yellowstone Controlled Groundwater Area Technical Oversight Committee concurs.

Planned field activities for the 2017 period include continued water quantity monitoring (water levels in wells and flows at springs) across the network, with each site visited at least three times per year, generally in May, August, and November. Some sites have flumes and data loggers, which increases the workload because they may require up to monthly visits to download data and maintain equipment. MBMG will also continue water quality monitoring: each long-term site is to be sampled in August for major ions and trace elements. The project also anticipates practical program maintenance, such as replacing sites if owners opt out, adding new sites when appropriate, updating or replacing monitoring equipment as needed, coordinating work with other MBMG programs (the Ground Water Assessment Program and the Groundwater Investigations Program), and inventorying and sampling wells installed in the YCGA since the last comprehensive well inventory was completed in 2000, as time and access allow. A major deliverable is an annual report summarizing results from the Long-Term Monitoring Program.

Beyond routine chemistry, the task includes more specialized investigations to improve understanding of groundwater sources and connections. MBMG will sample selected wells and springs in areas such as the Gardiner Basin, Hebgen Basin, and Soda Butte Creek watershed for hydrogeologic tracers, which may include noble gases, stable isotopes, and radon. These tracer datasets are intended to help identify recharge areas, refine the hydrogeologic framework, and evaluate whether there are hydrologic connections between Yellowstone thermal features and monitoring sites in the YCGA. To support interpretation of the tracer and monitoring results, MBMG may also conduct detailed geologic mapping around certain monitoring locations. The notice highlights earlier tracer work focused near Mammoth Hot Springs and along the Yellowstone River valley between Gardiner and Corwin Springs, which overlaps the USGS-designated Corwin Springs Known Geothermal Resource Area. Specific KGRA-related sites named as part of the long-term network include LaDuke Hot Springs, Bear Creek Hot Springs, and the Miller Well geothermal monitoring well.

The roles are shared. MBMG carries out the field monitoring, sampling, database and equipment upkeep, and reporting, and also stands ready to do additional sampling or monitoring in and around Yellowstone if NPS requests it. NPS commits to continuing the broader groundwater monitoring effort aimed at understanding potential impacts of groundwater development on the parks geothermal system, and to working with MBMG to select appropriate sampling sites within Yellowstone if sampling inside the park becomes necessary.

Finally, the notice explains why the award was not competed. NPS states it did not solicit full and open competition due to MBMGs unique qualifications and, more importantly, because only the State of Montana has the legal authority to establish, permit, and monitor water flows within Montana in a Controlled Groundwater Area. Since the YCGA is a Montana-administered mechanism created under the compact to protect Yellowstone, the monitoring, enforcement coordination, and related research and data collection responsibilities are legally and operationally tied to state authority and are considered essential to preventing impacts to Yellowstone National Parks geothermal system.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "National Park Service- Yellowstone Controlled Ground Water Area Long Term Monitoring" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.915.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 28, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 05, 2017. (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: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.

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