BOR-LC-17-N002.pdf

Bureau of Reclamation Form, RF-102 02-2016

NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD

This Funding Announcement is not a request for applications. This announcement is to provide public notice of the Bureau of Reclamation’s intention to fund the following project activities without full and open competition.

ABSTRACT

Funding Announcement BOR-LC-17-N002

Project Title

G1 Lower Colorado River Native Fish Database

Recipient

Marsh & Associates, LLC.

Principal Investigator / Program Manager

Dr. Paul Marsh

Anticipated Federal Amount $800,000 (Estimated)

Anticipated Non-Federal Amount

$0.00

New Award or Continuation?

New Award

Anticipated Period of Performance

10/1/17 through 9/30/22

Award Instrument

Grant

Statutory Authority Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act of 1934 as delegated by Department Manual (DM) 255 DM 1.1.B

CFDA # and Title 15.538, Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act of 1934

Single Source Justification Criteria Cited

(2) Continuation:

(4) Unique Qualifications:

Reclamation Point of Contact Diana Blake

12-2011

OVERVIEW

The Lower Colorado River Multi‐Species Conservation Program (MSCP) was implemented in April 2005 in response to a need to balance use of water resources of the lower Colorado River with conservation needs of 26 native species and their habitats. It is a long‐term plan that geographically encompasses the river and its corridor from Lake Mead downstream to the southerly U.S. and Mexico boundary. Two fishes, bonytail and razorback sucker, are among the species covered by the MSCP. These critically imperiled, federally listed endangered species have received considerable attention over the past several decades, and they are prominent conservation targets of the MSCP.

Conservation actions also have been implemented in behalf of flannelmouth sucker, a native but unlisted species that resides in portions of the lower river. A large amount of data currently exists for these three fishes, and substantial new information will be acquired during the course of the MSCP.

Responsible and effective management of that information is a crucial part of the program and is the focus of this proposed award.

Background and Need

Under the direction of P.C. Marsh and the late W.L. Minckley, Arizona State University (ASU) served since 1988 as a central repository for southwestern native fishes tagging data. Beginning in federal FY 2009 (October 1, 2008 to September 30, 2009), responsibility for these data transferred from ASU to Marsh & Associates (M&A) under continued direction of P.C. Marsh. Information has been assimilated from a suite of mark‐capture and other studies of bonytail, flannelmouth sucker and its hybrids, and razorback sucker at locations along the lower Colorado River from Glen Canyon Dam to the U.S. and Mexico International Boundary. Data is received, processed, and archived from various entities working on Lakes Mohave, Havasu and Mead, in the lower river Cibola, Havasu, Imperial and Palo Verde divisions, and elsewhere along the lower Colorado River. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), U.S. Geological Survey, and other entities have funded these database activities over the years.

Ongoing native fish conservation programs on the lower Colorado River downstream of Grand Canyon are expected to result in annual stocking of thousands of PIT‐tagged bonytail and razorback sucker (MSCP 2006) and captures of tens‐to‐hundreds of individuals of these species, plus flannelmouth sucker. Stocking and tagging records have been acquired and maintained for these programs and fishes for many years, and we now have a well-developed, sophisticated, and user friendly database. This database provides researchers, managers, and decision makers with timely, up‐to‐date, and accurate information ranging from detailed reports to status or history of individual fish. As part of its overarching role in the conservation of natural resources along the lower Colorado River, the MSCP will need to develop a comprehensive, integrated data management system to accommodate the diverse needs of its several programs and numerous species. The current database is well‐positioned to integrate with a MSCP system that can address the programmatic needs of the MSCP while also meeting the management and research needs of native fishes.

RECIPIENT INVOLVEMENT

The Recipient shall receive all stocking, capture, and contact data for native fishes of the lower Colorado River, from Lake Mead downstream to the southerly U.S. and Mexico boundary; these data will be supplied by any entity working on these species.

The recipients’ role is:

1. Data entry from field notes and electronic stocking files for activities associated with the MSCP and its partners.

2. Manipulations that organize or structure/ restructure the files, records, and their contained information, such as performance of sort routines.

3. Manipulations that yield summary statistics for individuals and populations, such as days at large, change in length, and growth.

4. Input to software that performs specific functions, such as mark-recapture analysis to estimate population size.

5. Generation of summaries and information for reporting, and (6) capture/contact history access via the internet.

RECLAMATION INVOLVEMENT

Reclamation will monitor and provide federal oversight of activities performed under this Grant.

Monitoring and oversight includes review and approval of financial status and performance reports, payment requests, and any other deliverables identified as part of the Scope of Work. Additional monitoring activities may include site visits, conference calls, and other on-site and off-site monitoring activities. At the Recipient’s request, Reclamation may also provide technical assistance to the Recipient in support of the Scope of Work and objectives of this Agreement.

SINGLE-SOURCE JUSTIFICATION

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

SINGLE SOURCE POLICY REQUIREMENTS

Department of the Interior Policy (505 DM 2) requires a written justification which explains why competition is not practicable for each single-source award. The justification must address one or more of the following criteria as well as discussion of the program legislative history, unique capabilities of the proposed recipient, and cost-sharing contribution offered by the proposed recipient, as applicable.

In order for an assistance award to be made without competition, the award must satisfy one or more of the following criteria:

(1) Unsolicited Proposal – The proposed award is the result of an unsolicited assistance application which represents a unique or innovative idea, method, or approach which is not the subject of a current or planned contract or assistance award, but which is deemed advantageous to the program objectives;

(2) Continuation – The activity to be funded is necessary to the satisfactory completion of, or is a continuation of an activity presently being funded, and for which competition would have a significant adverse effect on the continuity or completion of the activity;

(3) Legislative intent – The language in the applicable authorizing legislation or legislative history clearly indicates Congress’ intent to restrict the award to a particular recipient of purpose;

(4) Unique Qualifications – The applicant is uniquely qualified to perform the activity based upon a variety of demonstrable factors such as location, property ownership, voluntary support capacity, cost-sharing ability if applicable, technical expertise, or other such unique qualifications;

(5) Emergencies – Program/award where there is insufficient time available (due to a compelling and unusual urgency, or substantial danger to health or safety) for adequate competitive procedures to be followed.

Reclamation did not solicit full and open competition for this award based the following criteria:

(2) CONTINUATION

(4) UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS

Single Source Justification Description:

The Recipient has been identified as employing uniquely qualified staff with specialized skills and expertise on the subject matter. This Agreement is a continuation of work previously awarded to the recipient.

(2) Continuation:

This agreement is a continuation of database management work that was initially awarded to Marsh & Associates LLC in 2009 and the database has been maintained by M&A since then. Most recently under agreement number R12AP30002. This database houses the most complete records for native fish in the Lower Colorado River dating back to the 1980’s. It’s imperative that this database remains whole and intact due to the scientific integrity it provides and because of the long lived nature of these species.

(4) Unique Qualifications:

The Recipient has been identified as employing uniquely qualified staff with specialized skills and expertise on the subject matter, particularly Dr. P.C. Marsh who has overseen this database since its inception in 1988 when it was maintained through Arizona State University.

Marsh & Associates is uniquely qualified to manage the native fish database. These qualifications are based on a proven track record of data management, database expansion, reporting, and supplying timely feedback to resource management agencies. Specifically, they have:

1. Successfully demonstrated their abilities in the continued maintenance, expansion, and application of the Lake Mohave (lower Colorado River) Native Fishes Database in support of ongoing programs of Reclamation, MSCP, and other participants in the NFWG program since 2009.

2. Worked for twenty plus years collecting data and administering the database for the lower color river. This continued involvement in the matter has established partnerships with resource managers to facilitate cooperative data management throughout the Colorado River Basin.

3. Ongoing research in the region has allowed them to stay at the forefront of data acquisition, as well as manage the integration or manipulation of those data for the various partners within the region.

4. They are responsive to and capable of providing new or routine database queries requested by various researchers and resource managers. In recent years they have worked to make the database available online, and this has facilitated in the data acquisition and dispersal.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY

The authority for the Bureau of Reclamation to enter into this agreement is derived from the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act of 1934, as delegated by Department Manual (DM) 255 DM 1.1.B. The following section, provided in full text, authorizes Reclamation to award this financial assistance agreement:

1.1 Delegation. Subject to the exceptions in Section 1.2, the Commissioner of Reclamation

(Commissioner) is delegated the authority of the Assistant Secretary – Water and Science to:

B. Take the following actions, either directly or by providing financial assistance to non- Federal parties, pursuant to the Conservation of Wild Life, Fish and Game Act of March 10, 1934 (Pub. L. 73-121; 48 Stat. 401) as amended by the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act of August 14, 1946 (Pub. L. 85-624; 72 Stat. 563; 16 U.S.C. 661-666c); Section 5 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, December 28, 1973 (Pub. L. 93-205; 87 Stat. 884;

16 U.S.C. 1534); and Section 7(a) of the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act of 1956, August 8, 1956 (70 Stat. 1122; 16 U.S.C. 742f(a)), regarding the construction and/or continued operation and maintenance of any Federal reclamation project:

(1) plan, design, and construct, including acquiring lands or interest therein as needed for:

(a) fish passage and screening facilities at any non-Federal water diversion or storage project; or

(b) projects to create or improve instream habitat.

(2) acquire or lease water or water rights from willing sellers or lessors; or

(3) monitor and evaluate the effect of Reclamation actions on Endangered Species Act-listed species.

The Lower Colorado River Multi Species Program (LCR MSCP) is activity working to conserve the native endangered razorback sucker and other species in the Lower Colorado through monitoring, research, habitat enhancements and conservation initiatives. This project will provide the Recipient with assistance in helping to advance razorback conservation efforts. This principal objective of this action correlates to the delegated authority of monitoring and evaluating the effect of Reclamation actions on Endangered Species Act-listed species.