National Aquatic Resource Surveys (NARS)

The National Aquatic Resource Surveys (NARS) Master Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract vehicle, managed by the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Water, provides comprehensive technical support services for nationwide water resource monitoring and assessment programs. The contract enables the EPA to conduct scientific surveys of aquatic ecosystems, including lakes, rivers, streams, coastal waters, and wetlands, through a range of specialized technical and logistical services. Developed in response to Government Accountability Office recommendations, the NARS vehicle supports state-of-the-art survey techniques that randomly select sites to represent the conditions of aquatic resources across multiple spatial scales.

The task orders under this IDIQ consistently involve technical services such as field sampling, laboratory analysis, data collection, and reporting across various water assessment programs. Prime contractors frequently include Great Lakes Environmental Center, Inc., Ess Group Inc., and Avanti Corporation, with typical delivery order values ranging from $50,000 to $5.7 million and performance periods spanning 12-36 months. Most task orders are not set aside for specific business types, though some smaller task orders have been designated for total small business participation. Common technical scopes include logistics support, training, sediment chemistry analysis, toxicity testing, fish and vegetation sampling, macroinvertebrate identification, and water quality monitoring. Performance locations are geographically diverse, with work primarily conducted in states like Rhode Island, Michigan, Virginia, and across various regional watersheds, supporting EPA's nationwide water resource monitoring initiatives.