SOURCES_SOUGHT_RGSM_Spawn_Egg_Monitoring1_1.pdf

United States Department of the Interior

BUREAU OF RECLAMATION

Upper Colorado Regional Office

SOURCES SOUGHT

Please respond to mmaestas@usbr.gov, no later than

5:00 PM MT on 23 March 2026

Rio Grande Silvery Minnow Reproductive (Spawning/Egg) Monitoring in the Middle Rio Grande

The Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Region, has a requirement to solicit federally endangered Rio Grande Silvery Minnow (RGSM) Reproductive (Spawning/Egg) Monitoring services. The work to be performed is described below. Based upon responses to this announcement, the Government may determine to set this acquisition aside or proceed with an unrestricted solicitation. The applicable North American Industry Classification System

(NAICS) Code is 541620 Environmental Consulting Services and the related small business size standard is $15 million. Product Service Code (PCS) is B509 Special Studies/Analysis

Endangered Species. This notice is not a request for proposals/quotations and the information presented in this announcement will not obligate the Bureau of Reclamation in any manner.

Background

The Bureau of Reclamation seeks contractor services to provide Rio Grande silvery minnow

(RGSM) (Hybognathus amarus) reproductive monitoring in canals and spawning/egg monitoring in accordance with the specific, prescriptive protocol requirements. Desert rivers of the

American Southwest are impacted by factors including physical modification resulting from construction of diversion structures and reservoirs which fragment the river, habitat destruction including channelization, and alteration of flow regimes including extended periods of river dewatering or reduced spring runoff.

Without intervention, Pelagic broadcast spawning (PBS) fish populations in upstream reaches may gradually decline or become extirpated if there is little to no retention of eggs and larval fish in upstream areas (Winston et al. 1991; Luttrell et al. 1999; Dudley et al. 2020). In the Rio

Grande, populations of endangered Rio Grande Silvery Minnow (RGSM) in downstream reaches are threatened annually because of prolonged and extensive river drying that occurs in these areas (USFWS 1994). Drying tends to occur in summer after RGSM spawn and irrigation season begins. Additionally, climate and snowmelt runoff patterns have reduced water availability (Gutzler 2020). These changes have negative demographic and genetic effects for

RGSM effecting their ability to survive and thrive (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service [USFWS]

2010).

mailto:mmaestas@usbr.gov

Objective

1. Monitor spawning of RGSM in the Rio Grande by collecting egg data that will enable characterization of the egg density, passage rates, and the timing, duration, and magnitude of RGSM spawning in the Middle Rio Grande and allow assessment of spatial and temporal differences in spawning effort.

2. Electronically distribute daily RGSM egg capture data by location a Contracting

Officer’s Representative and to the USFWS (via a USFWS list serv, email, or an equivalent electronic data distribution system) to inform river operations decisions.

3. Optional Objective subject to Government Approval to Proceed: Monitor irrigation canals for presence of RGSM eggs to evaluate egg entrainment. Examine the relationship of number of eggs in canals to number of eggs in the river nearby.

The principal features of work are as follows:

A. Spawning Monitoring in River Channel

B. Egg Monitoring in Canals

C. Data Collection and Reporting D. Data analysis and Report electronically

The estimated period of performance is 5 years, which includes a Base plus 4 one-year option years.

All responsible sources may submit a Capabilities Statement to include experiences and expertise, key personnel resumes, examples of similar projects that reflect the requirement, type of work complexity and value which shall be reviewed by the agency.

Interested parties should include the following information in their response: (a) Business name, address, cage code, size classification based on NAICS size standard, socioeconomic classification (i.e. HUBZone and/or 8(a)), and a point of contact; (b) Evidence of your experience performing similar and relevant to the type and scope of work in this announcement within the last three years. The evidence should include: contract numbers, project titles, dollar amounts and points of contacts with telephone numbers. Please do not include more than three past projects; and (c) Include attachments cataloging the company’s equipment assets (as necessary), resources that demonstrate company responsibility and capability to perform required work.

Submit an electronic Capabilities Statement to mmaestas@usbr.gov by March 23, 2026 at 5:00

PM MT (Mountain Time). Prospective Contractors must be registered and must maintain an active registration in the System for Award Management, (SAM), as required by FAR 4.1102.

Prospective contractors must be registered prior to any prospective award. Lack of registration in the SAM database will make an offeror ineligible for prospective award. Information on

SAM registration can be obtained via the internet at http://www.sam.gov.

mailto:mmaestas@usbr.gov http://www.sam.gov/