A02.12 PWS Economic Impacts of USACE Water Projects.docx

Estimating the Social and Economic Impacts of USACE Water Supply Projects: An Exploratory Study

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

1. BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Water, as a pivotal resource, forms the bedrock of essential functions and services that intricately contribute to the livelihood of the environment, economy, and society. Its profound significance extends even further, permeating into the realm of national security, where water’s availability and management play a paramount role in safeguarding the interest of Americans and stability of the United States.

The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), through its water supply business line, is one of the nation’s largest water supply agencies, and thus plays a major role in providing Americans with enough water to meet their needs. USACE currently maintains a total of 136 multi-purpose reservoirs that provide water storage capacity for municipal and industrial use. USACE’s primary role in the water supply industry is to provide storage space for water, in partnership with state and local interests. These local partners provide finished water – responsible for the development, treatment, and delivery of water – to the end users. These end-users include local residential households, businesses, recreational organizations, utility companies, industrial facilities, and agricultural irrigation systems.

In this context, this study seeks to develop a conceptual framework for assessing the social and economic impacts of USACE’s water supply projects. The goal is to facilitate the identification and communication of risks and consequences at the local, state, and national levels.

2. SCOPE

The National Portfolio Assessment for Reallocation Program, in conjunction with the Water Supply Business Line, at the Institute for Water Resources (IWR) seeks to develop a conceptual framework for measuring the social and economic impacts of USACE’s water supply projects at the local, state, and national levels. To support this, the Contractor is expected to develop such framework and apply it to two USACE water supply projects (conduct two case studies) to test its applicability in practice.

The framework should include, at minimum:

1. Development of a method to define a unique impact region of a water supply project based.

2. Development of a method to measure social impacts of a water supply project, consistent with Other Social Effects account, and develop a list of social impact indicators.

3. Development of a method to estimate the ‘stemming-from’ economic impacts of a water supply project at the local, state, and national levels, via the use of an input-output (I-O) models (USACE-certified Regional Economic System (RECONS) model).

The Contractor is expected to investigate the direct, indirect, and induced impacts.

3. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

The contractor should be familiar with regional economic impact analysis and demonstrate rich empirical data and sophisticated modeling capabilities about the structure and function of regional economies and workforces, as well as extensive experience modeling integrated ecologic-economic systems.

The contractor should have intricate knowledge of input-output (I-O) models, including the USACE-certified RECONS model, as well as familiarity with IMPLAN data.

Recurring meetings between the Contractor and USACE Team to discuss progress and troubleshoot any issues are expected.

The following sub-sections provide details of various general requirements for this effort.

3.1. NON-PERSONAL SERVICES

The contractor shall provide strictly non-personal services and contractor employees are not subject to direct supervision and control by the Government. The contractor shall advise and support the Government but shall not make final decisions or certifications on behalf of the Government nor perform any inherently governmental functions. The contractor and its employees shall not represent the Government nor appear to represent the Government in performance of these contract services. Contractor personnel shall clearly identify themselves as contractor employees in all interactions during contract performance.

3.2. PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

All work will be performed at the Contractor’s place of work.

3.3. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

The period of performance is from the date of Notice to Proceed (NTP) and end eighteen (18) months thereafter.

3.4. MATERIALS

All materials, minus expendable supplies, purchased by the contractor with funds from this task order and used under this task order, become and remain the property of the Government.

3.5. TRAVEL

The Contractor shall provide services necessary to plan and schedule travel and travel shall be reimbursed in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 31.205-46. The Contractor shall be reimbursed for actual allowable costs and not to exceed the amount allowed in the Joint Travel Regulation (JTR). No fee is allowable on travel costs. One to two trips for an in-person meeting with relevant team members and/or to meet with local experts (when conducting case studies) may be allowed, as necessary.

3.6. SECURITY

This work will be UNCLASSIFIED and facility access is not required.

4. PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS (TASK AREAS)

4.1. TASK 1: Develop a method to define a unique impact region of a water supply project based on local knowledge This task includes two aspects: (1) develop ping a general, overall framework for defining a local impact area that is unique to each USACE water supply project, and (2) applying this framework to the two case studies. The specific USACE water supply projects to be selected as two case studies will be determined at a future date, at or around the kick-off meeting (NOTE: Would be ideal to select one from the ‘west’ of the Mississippi and one from the ‘east’ of the Mississippi) Impact area is defined as an area that can be impacted by the economic activity generated by the USACE water supply project. In defining the impact area, the extent of users of water from the USACE water supply projects must be identified, as well as additional flow to other industries or consumers to provide a comprehensive picture of the relationship throughout the regional and national economy.

Deliverable #1: The Contractor will provide both a presentation and a short-written report summarizing the framework and its application to the two case studies. The USACE Team will provide comments and feedback from both the presentation and report. The Contractor must address all comments and feedback.

4.2. TASK 2: Develop a social profile for the impact area and method to measure the social impacts of a water supply project This task includes two aspects: (1) developing a general, overall framework for measuring the social impacts based on the impact area defined in Task 1, and (2) applying this framework to the two case studies (specific USACE water supply project to be determined.

Here, the impact area’s socio-demographic characteristics, including underserved community status, and daily per capita water demand or water consumption by household and industry information should be investigated. Such information would be used to build a ‘social profile’ for the impact area.

Additionally, a list of social impact indicators will be developed.

Deliverable #2: The Contractor will provide both a presentation and a short-written report summarizing the framework (including the list of social impact indicators) and its application to the two case studies. The USACE Team will provide comments and feedback from both the presentation and report. The Contractor must address all comments and feedback.

4.3. TASK 3: Develop a method to estimate the stemming-from economic impacts of a water supply project at the local, state, and national levels This task includes two aspects: (1) developing a general, overall framework for measuring the stemming-from-effects (or stemming-from economic impacts) based on the impact area defined in Task 1, and (2) applying this framework to the two case studies.

To estimate the stemming-from-effects, the Contractor will thoroughly investigate the economic activity generated by USACE water supply projects that provide water storage. Industries that directly consume the water provided by USACE, as well as indirectly impacted by the water supply are to be evaluated.

Use of an input-output (I-O) model (RECONS) is expected to estimate the stemming-from impacts.

NOTE: There could be multiple sources of water that serve a particular area; as such, in each case study, the Contractor must isolate which communities are served by USACE storage. This may include meeting with local water supply experts. Additionally, use patterns may have changed dramatically in some areas (more aggressive conservation practices); the Contractor will look into use pattern changes across the nation, if such data/information are available.

Deliverable #3: The Contractor will provide both a presentation and a short-written report summarizing the framework and its application to the two case studies. The USACE Team will provide comments and feedback from both the presentation and report. The Contractor must address all comments and feedback.

Deliverable #4: The Contractor will provide a draft report that articulates the entire framework/approach – a synthesis of all tasks/steps – and the case studies, as well as a recommendation on its applicability in the RECONS model as a water supply module. This draft report will be reviewed by the USACE Team and returned with comments. At this point, decision to pursue the Optional Task (outlined below) will be made.

Deliverable #5: The Contractor will address all USACE Team’s comments and provide a final report.

4.4. TASK 4 (OPTIONAL): Develop a water supply module in the Regional Economic System (RECONS) Model This is an optional task. If the earlier tasks are proven to be successful, through the two case studies, then the framework/approach can be adopted and incorporated into the USACE RECONS model for wider application.

5. DELIVERABLES AND DELIVERY SCHEDULE

The Contractor will provide all deliverables electronically in Microsoft Office and/or PDF formats. No hardcopy is required. Scripts, macros, or code will also be provided digitally. The following draft schedule is provided for planning purposes. A final schedule will be developed a part of the kickoff meeting. The final schedule may be refined and modified at the agreement of both parties.

Note: If optional task is exercised, it will be additional time outside of the period of performance. Additional length will be agreed to by both parties

6. PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY (PRS)

The acceptable quality of deliverables will be determined as they are received and will be reflected by the comments and feedback provided by the USACE Team. The Contractor is expected to address 100% of all comments in their next iteration of the deliverable and/or on the final report, as the final report (Deliverable #5) is a synthesis of all previous deliverables (Deliverables #1-4).

All deliverables must be of professional quality and free from obvious technical, formatting, spelling or grammatical errors. All graphics should be of quality suitable for professional publication and USACE must have the right to publish all content in the public domain. USACE must have the ability and rights to obtain the necessary datasets and recreate and perform the evaluated methods on Government owned equipment in the future. Contractor shall use publicly available web services whenever possible for datasets.

7. APPLICABLE DOCUMENTS

N/A

8. CONTRACTING OFFICER REPRESENTATIVE AND/OR TECHNICAL POINT OF CONTACT (TPOC)

A contracting officer representative (COR) and/or technical point of contact (TPOC) will be appointed on this task order. The COR and TPOC have no authority to direct the contractor in any way to alter the contractual obligation. The contracting officer is the only individual authorized to make changes to the contract.

9. INVOICING

The contractor is authorized to invoice as frequently as monthly for work performed. Invoices will be submitted electronically. The invoice should include a summary of work completed. The contractor shall append the final invoice with an “F” to indicate final. All task orders under the Water Resources IDIQ are firm fixed price (Labor) and the contractor shall give their concurrence to return any unused Materials and Travel funding when the final invoice is submitted.

Invoices should be sent to the following email addresses. Which ensures that a copy goes to the USACE finance office and a copy to the IWR budget officer:

CEFC-Q0Invoices@usace.army.mil DLL-CEIWRCONTRACT@usace.army.mil