NOI BOR-LC-18-NOI11_Amend 001.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-18-NOI11_Amend 001

Project Title Colorado River Basin State of Climate and Hydrologic Science Report Recipient University of Colorado Boulder Principal Investigator / Program Manager

Dr. Ursula Rick and Jeff Lukas Phone: 303-735-8173 Phone: 303-735-2698 E-mail: Ursula.rick@colorado.edu E-mail: lukas@colorado.edu

Anticipated Federal Amount

$100,000.00

Anticipated Non-Federal Amount

$285,000.00

New Award or Continuation?

New Award

Anticipated Period of Performance

October 1, 2018 through September 30, 2019

Award Instrument Cooperative Agreement Statutory Authority Section 9504(b), Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009, (Public Law 111-11) CFDA # and Title 15.560 SECURE Water Act – Research Agreements Single Source Justification Criteria Cited

(4) Unique Qualifications

Reclamation Point of Contact

Leslie Dieguez (ldieguez@usbr.gov)

12-2011

OVERVIEW

Reclamation performs many studies that not only determine the operation of Colorado River System reservoirs but also inform mid- and long-term planning to support economic, water, energy security for the communities who rely on the river. The efficacy of these studies depends on incorporating the best available scientific methods and data from a variety of hydrology-related disciplines. The seven Colorado River Basin (Basin) States and water providers throughout the Basin (i.e., Stakeholders) support the integration of this science and have collaborated with Reclamation to apply it toward exploring potential future conditions of both manmade and natural systems. A notable example of such a collaboration is the 2012 Colorado River Basin Water Supply and Demand Study.

Reclamation and Stakeholders seek to develop a comprehensive report that summarizes the current state of climate and hydrologic science in the Colorado River Basin. Such a report will establish a common technical foundation on which to base ongoing and future Basin activities that rely on sound science. Basin-wide efforts to address the ongoing serious drought have underscored the importance of science that aims to explore historical streamflow variability, improve streamflow forecasting, and characterize future climate and hydrologic uncertainty in the Basin. Furthermore, a formal review of these topics, including data suitability and modeling capabilities, will support the work that Reclamation and Stakeholders perform in the upcoming renegotiation of the Interim Guidelines for Lower Basin Shortages and Coordinated Operations of Lake Powell and Lake Mead (Interim Guidelines), a process that is scheduled to begin no later than 2020. The report produced by this project will help ensure that science is applied responsibly during the Basin’s critical planning and management activities.

RECIPIENT INVOLVEMENT

The overall project has three phases: 1) Review of Reclamation’s and Stakeholders’ existing models and practices with principle investigators (PIs) and other collaborators, 2) Review and synthesis of relevant science into draft report, and 3) Reclamation and stakeholder review of draft report. The ultimate result of the project will be a Final Report.

This cooperative agreement will fund partial time for the PIs during the course of the project.

The PIs will oversee the tasks performed under the scope of work and perform roles and responsibilities which include, but are not limited to:

expert guidance in refining the scope of the report, with Reclamation and partners;

drafting, editing, and revising report content;

oversight of other contributions to the report, and the review process;

project management – recruiting contributors, meeting deadlines, organizing meetings and ensuring production of deliverables; and participation in and travel to, when necessary, project meetings.

RECLAMATION INVOLVEMENT

Reclamation shall participate with the project collaborators in the management of the project activities and closely oversee the project to ensure that the project objectives are being achieved.

This oversight shall include providing input on scientific topics to be reviewed, experts to be consulted, and report structure to ensure that the findings can be directly incorporated into Reclamation activities. Reclamation will provide .review and approval during each phase of the project.

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:

(4) Unique Qualifications

Single Source Justification Description:

Unique Qualifications – The recipient, University of Colorado Boulder, Western Water Assessment (WWA) is uniquely qualified to perform the activity based upon a variety of demonstrable factors such as:

a. Cost sharing ability: Stakeholders throughout the Basin, including the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the Central Arizona Project, and Denver Water (among others), will provide approximately 70% of the funding for this project, making this an excellent opportunity for Reclamation to leverage other funds to produce this important and widely-supported report.

b. Technical expertise: Translating scientific findings into reports and products that are useful and usable for water managers is a specific and valuable skill. PI Rick has been engaging with this translational work since 2010 as a Congressional staffer, an energy policy analyst, and in her current managing director role at WWA. PI Lukas has been conducting and translating climate science since 1998 and was instrumental in creating the Climate Change in Colorado: A Synthesis to Support Water Resources Management and Adaptation report for the Colorado Water Conservation Board (a state agency) as well as a report on Present Weather and Climate in the Southwest United States, part of the National Climate Assessment. The Report proposed in this project will build off of both of these reports. PI Lukas has also been engaging with Colorado water managers to apply hydroclimatic research since 2002, notably helping Reclamation incorporate paleohydrology into the 2007 Interim Guidelines; development and use of paleohydrologic data by Reclamation will be an important topic in the proposed Report.

c. Other unique qualifications: WWA is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA) program.

The mission of this program is to foster connections between scientists, scientific findings, and stakeholders in order to facilitate more informed water management and policy. No other entities have the capabilities that RISAs have. Successful completion of this project depends on communicating with and synthesizing expertise from many individual scientists who will be most responsive and helpful toward people they are familiar with, and WWA has an extensive network of Colorado River Basin-oriented scientists with whom they have collaborated for many years. This makes them the most clearly qualified entity to complete this project.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY

The authority for the Bureau of Reclamation to enter into this Agreement is found in SECURE Water Act under Section 9504(b), Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009, (Public Law 111-11).

SEC. 9504(b) RESEARCH AUTHORITY -

(1) AUTHORITY OF SECRETARY.—The Secretary may enter into 1 or more agreements with any university, nonprofit research institution, or organization with water or power delivery authority to fund any research activity that is designed—

(A) to conserve water resources;

(B) to increase the efficiency of the use of water resources; or

(C) to enhance the management of water resources, including increasing the use of renewable energy in the management and delivery of water.

(2) TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SECRETARY.—

(A) IN GENERAL.—An agreement entered into between the Secretary and any university, institution, or organization described in paragraph (1) shall be subject to such terms and conditions as the Secretary determines to be appropriate.

(B) AVAILABILITY.—The agreements under this subsection shall be available to all Reclamation projects and programs that may benefit from project-specific or programmatic cooperative research and development.