SOURCES SOUGHT
F -- This contract is for biological services to provide quality assistance and fish sampling functions for the Corps of Engineers' (Corps) Juvenile Fish Transportation Program for the base year 2009, and option year 2010.
- Notice Date
- 10/22/2008
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 541711
— Research and Development in Biotechnology
- Contracting Office
- Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army Engineer District, Walla Walla, US Army Engineer District, Walla Walla, 201 N. Third Avenue, Walla Walla, WA 99362-1876
- ZIP Code
- 99362-1876
- Solicitation Number
- W912EF-09-R-SS01
- Response Due
- 10/31/2008
- Archive Date
- 12/30/2008
- Point of Contact
- Nona Fincher, 509-527-7218<br />
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- Sources Sought Synopsis This is not a Notice of Solicitation. The Walla Walla District Corps of Engineers is issuing this notice to determine if there are an adequate number of interested business concerns capable of providing biological services to provide quality assistance and fish sampling functions for the Corps of Engineers (Corps) Juvenile Fish Transportation Program for the base year 2009, and optional year 2010. Businesses responding to this sources sought announcement may register via email to nona.r.fincher@usace.army.mil. This announcement is based on the best information available. This announcement does not commit the Government to award of a contract. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is not responsible for any costs incurred by responding to this notice. Please be advised that all information submitted will be considered procurement sensitive. 1. Work Period. The Contractor shall provide biologists to participate directly in the juvenile fish bypass, collection, and transportation programs at Lower Granite Dam (located near Pomeroy, Washington), Little Goose Dam (located near Starbuck, Washington), Lower Monumental Dam (located near Kahlotus, Washington), and McNary Dam (located near Umatilla, Oregon) for the time periods listed below. The Contractor shall provide one biologist at each project eight hours per day on a daily basis (seven days per week) through the course of the contract work period. The Contractors biologists will work closely with the Corps biologist responsible for the juvenile fish collection and transportation facilities at each of the four dams. Location Beginning Dates Ending Dates Base Year Lower Granite Dam March 16, 2009 November 06, 2009 Little Goose Dam March 23, 2009 November 06, 2009 Lower Monumental Dam March 23, 2009 October 14, 2009 McNary Dam March 23, 2009 October 21, 2009 Option Year 1 Lower Granite Dam March 15, 2010 November 05, 2010 Little Goose Dam March 22, 2010 November 05, 2010 Lower Monumental Dam March 22, 2010 October 14, 2010 McNary Dam March 22, 2010 October 21, 2010 2. Endangered Species Act Permits. The contractor must have an Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 10 permit from National Marine Fisheries Service which enables the Contractor to anesthetize and sample juvenile fish of all ESA listed stocks that may be encountered at the projects. The permit must authorize the taking of the listed stocks at all four of the Corps juvenile fish transportation projects and must include a large enough take allowance to cover the anticipated number of listed species handled in the daily samples at each project. 3. Work Items. Specific tasks performed by the Contractor are as follows: a. Sampling of Juvenile Fish. The Contractor shall be responsible for all handling and sampling of juvenile fish insofar as it affects the welfare of the fish. The Contractor shall participate in the daily project sampling activities along side personnel from various state fishery agencies sampling fish under Bonneville Power Administrations Smolt Monitoring Program. The Contractor shall be responsible for ensuring that fish are sampled according to criteria specified in the Corps Fish Passage Plan (FPP). The Contractor shall anesthetize and handle fish in the daily sample to determine the total number of fish in the sample, species composition, average weight of the fish, and descaling and injury rates. These activities will usually occur simultaneously with other facility activities including truck or barge loading. The sample information will be used by the Corps project biologist to determine adherence to the loading criteria contained in the Corps' FPP. b. Expanded Facility Collection Counts. During the transportation season, a sample only will be counted on a regular basis (under paragraph 3.a. above). The Contractor shall expand the total and species composition data from the daily sample to estimate total facility collection. At least once per day the Contractor shall also double check the Corps biologists separator collection sheet to determine if there are any errors in the projects hourly collection estimate and raceway loading. This is a critical part of the facility operation upon which all loading and holding criteria are based. Even slight miscalculations may significantly bias the collection or loading estimate. The Contractor shall also record daily facility and sample mortality and shall calculate the number of juvenile fish transported by either truck or barge by species on a daily basis. c. Facility Inspections and Project Assistance. The Contractor shall perform daily inspections of the operation and maintenance of the juvenile fish collection and transportation facilities at each project, for all activities directly affecting the welfare of the juvenile fish, and for compliance with the criteria set forth in the Corps' FPP. Activities to be inspected include, but are not limited to: trash accumulation and removal from turbine unit trash racks; turbine unit gatewells; operation and condition of submerged traveling screens and extended-length submerged bar screens; gatewell orifice operation and condition; condition of the juvenile collection channels, dewatering structures, and flumes; condition of counting, sorting, and holding facilities; sampling, inspection, and marking operations; fish crowding and loading operations; and condition of tractor-trailer and tug-barge units. Any deviations from project operating criteria will be reported to the Corps biologist for corrective action. The Contractor shall also assist the Corps biologist with orifice cycling and any fish handling required within the juvenile fish collection system if it is required to be dewatered during the operating season. The Contractor shall also inspect adult fishways at Lower Granite, Little Goose, and Lower Monumental dams, twice per week, for compliance with criteria set forth in the Corps FPP. The inspection report shall be provided to the Corps biologist at each project after completion of the inspection. d. Gatewell Dipping. Periodically during the transport season, changes in fish condition may warrant a detailed inspection of fish in various parts of the collection and transportation facilities. A common inspection practice is to dip gatewells and examine fish that have presumably just entered the bypass system. The Contractor shall assist the Corps biologists in dipping gatewells as necessary to evaluate condition of the fish. A complete record of gatewell dipnetting activity and fish condition data will be maintained by the Contractor biologist. e. Water Temperature Data Collection. At McNary Dam, the Contractor shall be responsible for collecting water temperature data in the juvenile fish collection channel, turbine unit gatewells, forebay, tailrace, and fish holding facilities. Water temperature data will be collected hourly, and downloaded daily, using data logging probes from June 15, 2009 through August 30, 2009 and June 15, 2010 through August 30, 2010. Temperature data will be collected from the B bulkhead slot, at orifice depth, of all 14 turbine units. The Contractor shall take forebay water temperatures measurements at 7 locations across the face of the powerhouse, approximately in front of every other turbine unit, at 3 locations along the spillway, and in the project tailrace at the barge loading dock. The Contractor will also record water temperatures at 3 locations in the juvenile fish collection channel, in the juvenile fish separator, and in a raceway. The specific location for taking these water temperature measurements will be agreed upon between the Contractor and the Corps biologist at McNary Dam. The Contractor shall maintain the data in a computer spreadsheet. Water temperature data will be included in the weekly summary report prepared by the Contractor (under 3.i.) and in a separate final report summarizing the monitoring effort and data. The summary report shall be provided on the same schedule as the annual report in paragraph 3.i. f. Activities of Outside Groups. The Contractor shall monitor the activities of groups or individuals engaged in fish research or other activities at the four projects to ensure that the activities of others at the project are not having a deleterious effect on the welfare of the juvenile fish. The Contractor shall keep track of the number of fish handled, marked, or sacrificed by each research group and shall include this information in the weekly report under 3.i. Any problems noticed will be reported to the Corps biologist. g. Dissemination of Information and Coordination With Biologists at Other Projects. The Contractor will summarize and record daily fish count information and the daily activities of the collection and transportation program and be responsible for dissemination of such information. This does not include the gathering or use of fishery information for management of fish stocks, hatchery or wild, within the waters of the state or for the setting of management criteria therein. Copies of all information collected by the Contractor shall be provided to the Corps biologist at each project. h. Ice Harbor Fish Condition Sampling. The Contractor shall provide two biologists from either McNary or Lower Monumental dams to sample fish in the juvenile fish sampling system at Ice Harbor Dam 4 hours per day, twice per week, from April 6, 2009 through July 15, 2009 and April 6, 2010 through July 15, 2010. The Contractor shall be responsible for anesthetizing fish collected by the Corps biologist at Ice Harbor project and evaluating the fish for fish condition. The Contractor shall provide the Corps project biologist, on each sampling day, information on the number of fish sampled by species, descaling and injury rates by species, and any information collected on gas bubble trauma symptoms or other fish condition. Fish sampled at Ice Harbor Dam are covered under a Corps ESA Section 10 permit from National Marine Fisheries Service. i. Reporting. The Contractor shall prepare weekly summary reports for each project on juvenile fish collection and transportation program activities. The weekly reports shall cover the time period from Friday through Thursday and shall be provided to the Corps biologist by the following Monday afternoon. The report shall include numbers of fish collected and transported for the week and season to date, daily and weekly fish descaling rates, daily and weekly sample tank and facility mortality, daily barging and trucking mortalities, general fish condition, daily and seasonal number and condition of ESA listed adult fallbacks, unusual facility operations or deviations from facility operation and maintenance criteria, any unusual or significant events anticipated during the following week, and any other note worthy event concerning the collection and transportation program. Copies of the weekly report shall be distributed to interested parties in the region via electronic mail under item 3.g. An annual summary report shall also be prepared jointly with the Corps biologist and submitted to the Corps in draft by 30 days prior to the end of the work period at each project for a 10-day review and as a final report on the last work day at each project. Format will follow that of the Corps' Annual Juvenile Fish Transportation Program Report and the Contractors portion will be as shown in Exhibit 1. Both the weekly and summary reports shall be submitted to the Walla Walla District through the Corps biologist at each project. The weekly and annual reports will be provided in electronic form in Microsoft Word format. 4. Safety. All Contractor employees shall attend a project orientation meeting prior to the collection and transportation season and weekly safety meetings while they are working at the projects. All project rules and regulations as well as all safety standards, EM 385-1-1, will be adhered to. Exhibit 1. Outline of Final Report for Juvenile Fish Transportation Program Topic Responsibility A. Introduction/River Conditions Corps & Contractor B. Modifications Corps C. Collection of Juveniles 1. Migration and Collection Corps & Contractor 2. Adult Fallback Corps 3. Separator Efficiency Contractor 4. Sampling Contractor 5. Transportation Corps & Contractor 6. Bypass Corps & Contractor D. Fish Condition 1. Descaling Contractor 2. Mortality Corps & Contractor E. Research Summary Contractor F. Facility Operations and Maintenance 1. Debris/Trashracks Corps & Contractor 2. Submersible Traveling Corps Screens Or Extended Submerged Bar Screens 3. Collection System Corps 4. Distribution/Sampling System Corps & Contractor G. Recommendations for Next Year 1. Operations Corps & Contractor 2. Facility Modifications Corps & Contractor
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- Place of Performance
- Address: US Army Engineer District, Walla Walla 201 N. Third Avenue, Walla Walla WA<br />
- Zip Code: 99362-1876<br />
- Zip Code: 99362-1876<br />
- Record
- SN01694745-W 20081024/081022214440-6c132010d80d7d5f07b0f2e8265bef86 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
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