04. Performance Work Statement_DWR Snow Surveys_1.docx

Performance Work Statement (PWS) US BOR Manual Statewide Snow Surveys 1 January 2021

1.0 INTRODUCTION:

1.1 Organization to be supported:

Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) Central Valley Operations Office (CVOO) 3310 El Camino Avenue Ste 300 Sacramento, CA 95821

1.2 Background:

The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) supports the gathering and correlation of manual snow measurements pertinent to the annual forecasts of seasonal water supply. The California Cooperative Snow Surveys (CCSS), Department of Water Resources (DWR), manages the manual data collection of roughly 260 snow courses and 130 snow sensors throughout the state. CCSS and other agencies such as NOAA’s California-Nevada River Forecast Center and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) use this data to forecast water supply.

As part of an effort to support this data collection and forecasting, Reclamation will sponsor the cost to measure snow courses and sensors measured by the USFS on the El Dorado National Forest, the Klamath National Forest, the Sequoia National Forest, the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, and the Stanislaus National Forest.

Reclamation is responsible for the operation of the Central Valley Project (CVP). The CVP includes Shasta Lake on the Sacramento River, Folsom Lake on the American River, New Melones Lake on the Stanislaus River, and Millerton Lake on the San Joaquin River. In operational planning for these reservoirs, it is necessary to have water supply forecasts.

1.3 Clearances and Licensing:

A security clearance is not required for Contractor employees.

1.4 Privacy Act:

Work on this project requires that contractor personnel have access to Privacy Information. Personnel shall adhere to the Privacy Act, Title 5 of the U.S. Code, Section 552a and applicable agency rules and regulations

2.0 Scope:

The scope of work of this contract is to gather and correlate information and data pertinent to the annual forecasts of seasonal water supply for the Sacramento River Basin, the American River Basin, the Stanislaus River Basin, and the Upper San Joaquin River Basin. This effort includes snow survey measurements and coordinating with Federal and other agencies in the performance of such work and obtaining the measurement data.

The data to be collected includes depth of snow and snow water content on a given date. These values are then used to compute an estimate of water content in the existing snowpack of each watershed as of that date. The snow water content values are also inputted into hydrologic runoff models to develop an estimate of snowmelt runoff volume and timing. These values are in turn used to estimate the water supply available for delivery and allocation to municipal, agricultural, and environmental purposes. The snowmelt estimates are also used to estimate risk of flooding caused by melting snowpack.

The procedure for collecting snow depth and water content data is as follows:

1. Technicians travel to specified sites and take measurements on specified dates (note that dates and sites to be measured vary each month). The method of transportation may be by 4-wheel drive, snowcat, skis, or snow shoes. On occasion, a helicopter may be used to deliver personnel to remote sites. The first step is to assemble the snow sampling set. It consists of aluminum tubes about 1.5 inches in diameter and 30 inches long. The bottom tube has a sharpened steel cutter section to cut down through the ice layers within the pack. After the snow tubes are assembled, personnel head out on the course.

2. Each end or leg of a snow course is marked by distinctive signs. The course diagram shows the snow surveyors how far from the sign the samples are to be taken. One of the gaugers skis or snowshoes out on the course trailing a tape measure. A second gauger makes sure that the samples are taken in line with the far course marker and at the proper distances.

3. The snow tube is plunged through the snow pack and, once the ground is reached, the snow depth is read from the graduations etched on the side of the tube.

4. The tube containing the snow core is placed in the cradle of the scale. It is important to balance the tube in the cradle so it doesn’t tip and lose the snow core. After the weight of the snow and tube is recorded, the snow core is dumped out of the tube and the empty tube is weighed.

5. The weight of the tube and core is recorded on a special notepad. The water content of the snowpack is the difference between the weight of the empty tube and that of the tube and snow core. Each of the data points along the snow course are summed and divided by the number of snow course points to determine the average depth and water content for the snow course.

6. The average depth of snow and water content data for each snow course is reported to the Department of Water Resources Snow Survey office where the data is entered into DWR’s California Data Exchange Center (CDEC) database after being quality checked.

7. All of the snow courses within a watershed are in turn averaged to calculate a ‘snow index’ for each watershed. This index is used directly in the regression analysis for determining April through July runoff volume in acre-feet at the 15-major watershed forecast points tributary to the Sacramento and San Joaquin River Valleys. This total runoff volume forecast is generated at a specific point on each watershed, for instance, at New Melones for the Stanislaus river watershed.

Raw data is available to Reclamation upon request immediately upon completion of the monthly snow survey. Preliminary runoff information is provided approximately one week after completion of the monthly snow surveys, and formal (final results) are provided in the monthly Bulletin 120. Reclamation receives advance forecast information prior to public release.

The contractor shall be responsible for safeguarding all Government equipment, information and property provided for contractor use. At the close of each work period, government facilities, equipment, and materials shall be secured.

3.2 Key Control:

The Contractor shall establish and implement methods of making sure all keys/key cards issued to the Contractor by the Government are not lost or misplaced and are not used by unauthorized persons.

The Contractor shall prohibit the use of Government issued keys/key cards by any persons other than the Contractor’s employees. The Contractor shall prohibit the opening of locked areas by Contractor employees to permit entrance of persons other than Contractor employees engaged in the performance of assigned work in those areas, or personnel authorized entrance by the Contracting Officer.

4.0 Deliverables

The data collected under Scope 2.0 will be uploaded to CDEC after the data has been received from the USFS. An annual report will not be required under this contract, as the data posting to CDEC adequately fulfills the terms of the contract and the needs of Reclamation. For invoicing Reclamation, the Contractor shall provide the annual costs CCSS pays to the USFS: El Dorado National Forest, Klamath National Forest, Sequoia National Forest, Shasta-Trinity National Forest, and the Stanislaus National Forest.

The on-site support shall report to the customer site each day during normal Business hours, which are Monday through Friday, 0730 until 1730. Overtime is not authorized under this contract.

7.0 Place of Performance:

All work shall be completed on site. Multiple locations in the Sacramento River Basin, American River Basin, Stanislaus River Basin, and Upper San Joaquin River Basins. See Attachment A for specific site details.

8.0 Period of Performance:

The anticipated period of performance shall be from the base year which will be from the date of award through 12/31/2025 (base plus four (4) option periods).

9.0 Travel:

Proposed travel costs shall be included as a separate line item in the contractor’s Firm Fixed Price quotation, and shall be in accordance with the Joint Travel Regulation. Payment for travel shall be on a reimbursable basis.

10.0 Intellectual Property:

This contract is funded by the United States Government. All intellectual property generated and/or delivered pursuant to this PWS shall be subject to appropriate federal acquisition regulations which entitle the Government to unlimited license rights in technical data and computer software developed exclusively with Government funds, a nonexclusive "paid-up" license to practice any patentable invention or discovery made during the performance of this contract, and a "paid-up" nonexclusive and irrevocable worldwide license to reproduce all works (including technical and scientific articles) produced during this contract.

11.0 Section 508:

All Electronic and Information Technology (EIT) procured through this contract shall meet the applicable accessibility standards at 36 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 1194, unless an agency exception to this requirement exists. 36 CFR 1194 implements Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, and is viewable at http://www.access-board.gov/508.htm. The Contractor shall indicate for each line item in the schedule whether each product or service is compliant or noncompliant with the accessibility standards at 36 CFR 1194. Further, the proposal shall indicate where full details of compliance can be found (e.g., vendor's website or other exact location).

12.0 Performance Assessment and Disincentives

1. Monitoring Performance. During the course of the evaluation period, the COR will track Contractor performance. Interim (mid-term) evaluations may be provided to identify strengths and weaknesses in the Contractor's performance during the period being evaluated. At the end of the period, the COR will assess the Contractor's performance in accordance with the Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) and report to the Contracting Officer.

1. Contractor Self-Assessment. Following each evaluation period, the Contractor may provide a written self-assessment of its performance to the COR to be considered in its report to the Contracting Officer. The self-assessment shall be submitted not later than 5 working days after the end of each evaluation period. The self-evaluation shall not exceed 1 page per PRS element. The self-assessment shall address both the strengths and weaknesses of the Contractor's performance during the evaluation period. Where deficiencies in performance are noted, the Contractor shall describe the actions planned or taken to correct such deficiencies and avoid their recurrence. The self-assessment itself will NOT be the basis for the Disincentives determination.

1. COR Recommendation. The COR will consider all evaluations and any other pertinent information, including Contractor self-assessment, and will prepare a report to the Contracting Officer with findings and recommendations. The Contractor will be provided a copy of the draft findings and recommendations of the COR and will be afforded the opportunity to identify factual errors. The COR's draft recommendation is not subject to negotiation and the COR will not engage in discussions with the Contractor. Any errors identified by the Contractor will be addressed by the COR in its final report. The Contractor will be provided a copy of the final COR report at the same time the report is submitted to the Contracting Officer.

1. Payment Determination. The Contracting Officer may meet with the COR to discuss the COR's report. The Contracting Officer will make a final determination in writing as to the percentage of work successfully completed, and the resulting payment to be made. A copy of the determination will be provided to the Contractor no later than 45 calendar days after the end of the period being evaluated. All Contracting Officer decisions regarding Disincentives are unilateral decisions made solely at the discretion of the Government.

1. Deduction. Notwithstanding any other clause of this contract, deduction of the Disincentive will be made within the later of 60 days after the end of the evaluation period or 30 days after receipt of an approved invoice.

1. The Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan is one evaluation method the government uses to surveillance performance to determine whether the Contractor meets the standards of performance as defined in the PWS. The absence of a QASP for any contract requirement, however, shall not detract from its enforceability or limit the rights or remedies of the government under any other provision of the contract in determining the quality of the Contractor performance.

PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY AND

QUALITY ASSURANCE SURVIELLANCE PLAN (QASP)

PWS Section 2.1 Daily access the California Data Exchange Center (CDEC) database to ensure stations are operating and reporting data

Timeliness: CDEC database checked daily

COR periodic surveillance.

PWS Section 2.1 Preventative Maintenance Timeliness: Work completed within specified time period 98%of the time.

Quality: Work performed to industry standard 100% of time.

COR periodic surveillance.