A02.14 SSJ Under SAT - Lake Superior Compensating Works Discharge Investigation - SAM.docx

Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) – Acquisition Sensitive

SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION FOR ACTIONS UNDER THE SAT

IAW FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)(i)

1. Contracting Activity: The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Humphreys Engineer Center Support Activity (HECSA)

2. Description of Action: Approval is requested for a new, firm fixed price type of contract using Civil Works Funding in the amount of $XXX,XXX.XX.

3. Description of Supplies/Services: The subject requirement is for the “Lake Superior – St. Marys Compensating Works Discharge Investigation,” which will be used to support the review of the Lake Superior outflow regulation plan, Plan 2012. The International Joint Commission has ordered the Great Lakes Adaptive Management Committee (GLAM) to perform an evaluation of Plan 2012. Plan 2012 was designed to provide more natural flows in the St. Marys Rapids to improve ecosystem and fisheries habitat. Funding from each of the Canadian and United States Governments has been authorized for work on their respective sides of the international border with the USACE being responsible for executing the United States’ portion of the work. The evaluation of Plan 2012 will investigate how gate operations and varying flow in the St. Marys Rapids have impacted the habitat and ecosystem. Understanding and quantifying the outflow from the Compensating Works (a component of the control structure) is the first step in building tools to analyze the regulation plan. Collecting data, establishing rating curves, creating and validating models is essential to establish performance metrics in the St. Marys Rapids and River.

Prior to the implementation of the International Lake Superior Board of Control Plan 2012, operation of the Compensating Works required a minimum of one-half gate open. This was accomplished by partially opening the middle four gates (gates 7-10) the equivalent of a single half-gate. Additional discharge is achieved with all other gates either open and free-flowing or closed. After the implementation of Plan 2012, the middle four gates were operated the same, however, partial opening of all gates was permitted to achieve a desired discharge. This change was made without formal rating equations for partial gate operation ever being developed. Although tools exist to estimate partial gate discharge, they were developed without formal study.

Establishing these models with ground truthing data is required as a first step in the long term adaptive management of the Lake Superior outflow. The anticipated cost of the work under this contract is $XXX,XXX.XX, starting from date of notice to proceed (NTP), estimated to be toward the end of August 2025, and continue for 18 months.

4. Authority Cited: 10 U.S.C. 2304(C)(1) or 41 U.S.C. 253(C)(1) as implemented in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.106-1(b)(1)(i), Soliciting from a single source, for purchases not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold (SAT).

5. Reasons for Authority Cited: Adaptive management is a central tenet to progressive water levels management policy and requires evolving targeted data collection and analysis to develop an understanding of system responses to regulated hydrodynamics for decision making. This project addresses a need to apply long-term and targeted data collection to support the Board in accurate outflow accounting and establish plan performance indicators to evaluate ecosystem and habitat impacts. The data will be incorporated into a comprehensive modelling and performance indicator assessment developed by the GLAM Committee and others as defined.

Partial gate operation rating curves were not studied during the Upper Great Lakes Study. The Upper Great Lakes Study was a binational effort directed by the IJC to investigate ways to manage fluctuating lake levels in the face of uncertain water supplies while seeking to balance the needs of those interests served by the system. One of the outcomes of the study was the new Lake Superior Regulation Plan, Plan 2012. The Plan provides a set of rules used to determine the amount of water to release from the lake. The rules are designed to provide economic and environmental benefits both upstream and downstream. More specifically, it was designed to benefit the ecosystem, including important Lake Sturgeon habitat, of the St. Marys River by providing more natural flows and smaller month-to-month changes to benefit hydropower and the St. Marys Rapids interests. This data collection is the first step in addressing gaps in formal equations for partial gate operations which are critical to developing metrics to quantify the impacts to the Rapids under the criteria set forth by Plan 2012.

The identified researcher is Dr. Andrew Gronewold, a research scientist and Associate Professor at the University of Michigan, School for Environment and Sustainability (UM-SEAS), and U.S. Principal Investigator at the Global Center for Impacts on Transboundary Waters. Much of his research focuses on hydrological modeling, with an emphasis on propagating uncertainty and variability into model-based water resources management decisions. His specific research areas include predicting runoff in ungauged basins, monitoring and understanding water quality dynamics in coastal areas, and incorporating probability theory and Bayesian statistics into watershed-scale data sets and forecasting tools.

Dr. Gronewold is uniquely qualified to conduct this work due to his current position as the US Principal Investigator for the Global Center for Impacts on Transboundary Waters at the University of Michigan. The Global Center is an innovative multinational endeavor committed to enhancing the resilience of communities in the face of uncertain future hydrologic scenarios. The work required for this investigation requires the physical laboratory facilities and expertise to develop a physical model of the Compensating Works, a deep familiarity with computational fluid dynamics, and the ability to appropriately apply statistical models bounded by physics. Dr. Gronewald’s expertise, laboratory capabilities, and staff meet these requirements and will provide valuable information and analysis that are unique and are not available from any other source or investigator.

Dr. Gronewold’s technical expertise and comprehensive knowledge of the unique binational freshwater system makes him the most suitable candidate to lead this effort. As Dr. Gronewold is currently employed by UM-SEAS, it is therefore in the best interest of the U.S. Government to issue a contract to the UM-SEAS to perform this work.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: Research has shown that is not possible to complete this work otherwise due to the unique qualifications of Dr. Gronewold, his support staff and lab capabilities. In accordance with FAR Subpart 5.2, a Notice of Intent to Sole Source will be posted to the Contract Opportunities section of the SAM.gov website for 15 days. Interested parties will be given the PWS and chance to respond to the Notice of Intent to Sole Source. Interested parties are instructed to provide a capability statement if they believe they are capable of performing the required servces.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: Due to the highly unique qualifications of Dr. Gronewold, his support staff and lab capabilities and for reasons mentioned above in Section 5, the team determined that it would be far more expensive and inefficient to pursue another entity.

8. Market Research: Market research has not identified a comparable entity to fulfill the requirements. Based on market research (and for reasons mentioned above in Section 6 and throughout), it is recommended that a sole source contract with Global Center for Impacts on Transboundary Waters at the University of Michigan is required.

9. Interested Sources: To date, no other sources have written to express an interest. The notices required by FAR 5.201 will be published, and any bids for proposals received will be considered.

10. Other Facts: None.

11. Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the anticipated price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable, based on FAR 13.106-3(a)(2)(vi) “Comparison to an independent Government Estimate.” Per FAR 15.403-1(b)(3), certified cost and pricing data is not required.

David A. Kaplan Procuring Contracting Officer Email: David.A.Kaplan@usace.army.mil

12. Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Procuring Contracting Officer Email: David.A.Kaplan@usace.army.mil

Approval Based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve Global Center for Impacts on Transboundary Waters at the UM-SEAS for Lake Superior – St. Marys Compensating Works Discharge Investigation in the amount of $XXX,XXX.XX on an other than full and open competition basis pursuant to the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b)(1)(i), subject to availability of funds, and provided that the services and property herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.

Procuring Contracting Officer Email: David.A.Kaplan@usace.army.mil

Prepared by:

Shanti Singh Contract Specialist Email: Shanti.Singh@usace.army.mil