What can I win?

Up to five Finalists will receive an award of $115,000 each to build a functioning prototype according to their submissions. This award will be disbursed in three payments that correspond to progress in creating the prototype:

• Designation as a Finalist: $25,000
• Schematic diagram of technology with detailed mass and energy balances: $65,000
• Progress Report, including Proof of Concept: $25,000

The Winner will receive a $150,000 award. A pool of $100,000 may be additionally awarded to Finalists who are not named as the Winner.

How will submissions be assessed?

There will be two rounds of scoring assessment. During the Evaluation Panel review, each valid submission will receive scores and comments from a highly qualified panel of expert reviewers who will use a scoring rubric to assess their assigned submissions. All scores are normalized to ensure fairness for everyone. Informed by the ranking of results as determined by the Evaluation Panel -- with consideration given to diversity of solutions – up to five top-scoring submissions, as determined by Common Pool, will be named as Finalists. Finalists will attend a demonstration event where the Demonstration Event Panel will evaluate the performance of the prototypes to inform the final Winner selection.

What happens to my intellectual property?

While the Solution Title, Solution Description, Technical Abstract, and Video for your submission may be published on this website and/or the Bureau of Reclamation website, the ownership and use of intellectual property arising from this competition remains with you. The Bureau of Reclamation may choose to negotiate for a right to use license for winning solutions developed as a result of the competition.