USBR Halt the Hitchhiker: Invasive Species Challenge

1 min read

Bailey G. Light

NASA’s Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation (CoECI) assists in the use of crowdsourcing across the federal government. CoECI’s NASA Tournament Lab offers the contract capability to run external crowdsourced challenges on behalf of NASA and other agencies.

The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) is sponsoring a 3-phase prize challenge (managed by yet2) for innovative solutions to eliminate the risk of aquatic invasive species (AIS) being transported in raw water entering and exiting watercraft ballast compartments. The goal is to identify novel approaches that can kill, exclude, or inactivate AIS such as quagga, zebra, and golden mussels, thereby protecting Reclamation’s water delivery and hydropower infrastructure.

Award: $550,000 in total prizes across all phases

Open date: February 26, 2026

Phase 1 concept papers due: May 29, 2026

For more information, visit: https://haltthehitchhiker.yet2.com/