The Water Seed Grant Program is a multidisciplinary water research program funded by the Water Exceptional Item and administered by the Texas Water Resources Institute (TWRI). The Water Exceptional Item is funded by state appropriations from the Texas legislature under Texas A&M AgriLife Research’s budget.
Through this funding, the Water Seed Grant Program has provided $8,496,000 in water research funding since in 2020.
The purpose of this initiative is to provide seed grants to invest in multidisciplinary teams to position teams as leaders in emerging fields and successfully secure external resources to advance water management in Texas.
Representatives from AgriLife Research, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) are required (minimum of one person per agency) in each project proposal, to bring multidisciplinary teams together and develop cohesive pilot projects that can be the basis for submitting larger proposals to external funding agencies.
Requests for Proposals
The FY2026-2027 Water Resources Advancement Program request for proposals is now open. Please prepare the full proposal application and corresponding budget template following the guidelines and format in the RFP. All submissions must be packaged into 1) a single PDF file including the application and budget (file name: lead PI last name-Proposal), and 2) also attach the completed Excel budget template (file name: lead PI last name-Budget) to TWRI_Proposals@ag.tamu.edu by 5 p.m., July 7, 2025. Use subject line: “Water Grant – [lead PI last name, short title]” for your submission.
Key requirements are:
- Proposals can be for one or two years, running from Sept. 1 to Aug. 31 each year but budgets must be expended within each respective fiscal year of the project.
- Each grant type requires submission of competitive grant proposals totaling $2 requested through extramural sources to every $1 received through the program.
- No participants outside of the three agencies are eligible to receive funding, but they may participate in the project if their contribution is deemed necessary by the project team.
- Submission includes 1) the PDF application, other required information and budget template, as described in the RFP, as well as 2) the completed Excel budget and justification template.
Project Focus Areas
One or more projects for the following water resources research and outreach focus areas may be selected:
- Agricultural Efficiency and Water Management
- Urban Water Management
- Emerging Contaminants
More details about eligibility, focus areas, limitations, the proposal types, expectations, contacts and the proposal format are detailed in the RFP.
Past Recipients
Read about the past Water Seed Grant Program awardees below.
Contacts
For general program and application info, contact TWRI_Proposals@ag.tamu.edu with Subject: Water Grant Question.
For technical matters, contact Allen Berthold.
Danielle Kalisek
TWRI Assistant Director
Danielle Kalisek is the Assistant Director for Institute Operations for the Texas Water Resources Institute. In this role, she manages institute business, particularly the pre-award through account setup processes and state and designated accounts, she also coordinates communications and websites services and needs for the institute.
Allen Berthold
TWRI Associate Director
Allen Berthold, Ph.D., is the associate director at the Texas Water Resources Institute, where he has worked since 2009. During his time at the institute, Allen has served in leadership roles for water-related projects in both agricultural and urban settings across Texas.
