noi.docx

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

Wildland Sciences, Utah State University 5230 Old Main Hill Utah State University Logan, UT 84322-5230 Phone: 970-217-3404 Fax: 435-797-3794 Email: mary.conner@usu.edu

Phaedra Budy, Professor Watershed Sciences, Utah State University Unit Leader, USGS Utah Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit 5200 Old Main Hill Utah State University Logan, UT 84322-5210 Phone: 435-797-7564 Fax: 435-797-4025 Email: phaedra.budy@usu.edu

Section 1. Purpose. The purpose of this Act is to authorize and provide funding for the Bureau of Reclamation to continue the implementation of the endangered fish recovery implementation programs for the Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins in order to accomplish the objectives of these programs within a currently established time schedule.

Section 2. Definitions. (8) The term "base funding" means funding for operation and maintenance of capital projects, implementation of recovery actions other than capital projects, monitoring and research to evaluate the need for or effectiveness of and recovery action. .. Base funding also includes annual funding provided under the terms of the 1988 Cooperative Agreement and the 1992 Cooperative Agreement.

Section 3. Authorization to Fund Recovery Programs. Subsection (d) Base Funding. (1) Beginning in the first fiscal year commencing after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary may utilize power revenues collected pursuant to the Colorado River Storage Project Act for the annual base funding contributions to the Recovery Implementation Programs by the Bureau of Reclamation. Such funding shall be treated as non-reimbursable and as having been repaid and returned to the general fund of the Treasury as costs assigned to power for repayment under section 5 of the Colorado River Storage Project Act. (2) For the Recovery Implementation Program for the Endangered Fish Species in the Upper Colorado River Basin, the contributions to base funding referred to in paragraph (1) shall not exceed $4,000,000 per year. For the San Juan River Recovery Implementation Program, such contributions shall not exceed $2,000,000 per year. The Secretary shall adjust such amounts for inflation in fiscal years commencing after the enactment of this Act. The utilization of power revenues for annual base funding shall cease after the fiscal year 2011, unless reauthorized by Congress; except that power revenues may continue to be utilized to fund the operation and maintenance of capital projects and monitoring.

Note: The Recovery Program Manager monitors the UC and SJRIP expenditures and will not exceed power revenues authorized annual amounts. According to the Power Office, based on the September CPI index, SJRIP FY15 is authorized to fund $2,724,095.00 and UCRIP is authorized to fund $5,448,190.00. The Recovery Program Manager has allocated all funds and recipients for FY15 funds for both SJ and UCRIP. This agreement ($150,000.00 for FY15) is accounted for in the SJRIP’s $2,724,095.00 allocation.

Public Law 112–270. To amend Public Law 106–392 to maintain annual base funding for the Upper Colorado and San Juan Fish Recovery Programs through fiscal year 2019. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, Section 1. Short Title. This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Endangered Fish Recovery Programs Extension Act of 2012’’.

Section 2. Extensions of Authority Under Public Law 106-392; Report, Section 3(d)(2) of Public Law 106–392 is amended— (1) by striking ‘‘2011’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘2019’’; (2) by striking ‘‘2008’’ and inserting ‘‘2018’’; and (3) by inserting before ‘‘Nothing in this Act’’ the following: ‘‘Such report shall also describe the Recovery Implementation Programs actions and accomplishments to date, the status of the endangered species of fish and projected dates for down-listing and delisting under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and the utilization of power revenues for annual base funding.’’

(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;

OVERVIEW

The Colorado River Basin historically provided habitat for all four endangered species; however, fishery surveys in the 1970’s and 1980’s indicated all four of these species were in severe decline. By 1992 all four fish species were listed endangered under the ESA.

Through stocking and various management actions, populations of the endangered fish have improved over the long term. Accurate fish counts are an important aspect of the program’s responsibility in the recovery of endangered fish species. Beginning in the 1990’s the Programs throughout the Colorado River Basin have relied on PIT-tagging (Passive Integrated Transponder) as a way to individually mark fish and allows researchers to track fish over time and eventually can allow population estimates to be made on the fish. These population estimates are critical to determining the effects of management actions and ultimately lead to decisions on whether the fish can be recovered and/or delisted.

However, accurately detecting fish moving through rivers and streams is difficult and costly. Existing passive systems that detect PIT-tagged fish are primarily effective for species with predictable movement patterns that can be funneled past stationary antennae, like salmon in the Pacific Northwest. Some systems exist for detecting fish in smaller tributaries or creeks, but these systems are limited in their ability to read fish in a larger river system. Endangered fish in the Colorado River Basin are tagged prior to stocking or are captured using electrofishing or traps and tagged with PIT tags to allow researchers to track their movements and assess survival. Efforts to collect data on subsequent recaptures of the tagged fish involve large amounts of personnel and equipment since the fish must be physically recaptured to scan the fish for PIT tags. Recapturing can lead to mortality or changes in behavior and movements and thus bias the data. Remote and unmanned detection systems (commonly known as passive interrogation arrays, or PIAs) are needed to detect these fish without involving their capture to reduce both costs and capture injuries to the fish.

In an effort to develop more mobile and remote-detection systems Reclamation and Utah State University researchers have developed several systems to detect fish as they pass through or under various antenna arrays. These systems were developed under a previous Cooperative Agreement through the Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit agreement. These systems consist of antenna modules, a master controller to operate the antennas, various power supplies (solar and conventional 110volt AC), integrated Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment and software for mobile systems, and data recorders to record tag numbers, dates, times, and locations of tags in the various rivers. Some of the systems can be mounted to various watercraft (e.g., rafts) and floated down a river.

Reclamation programs, as well as other programs for detecting fish, have benefited from the development of this new technology. Better data on fish populations has assisted numerous Reclamation programs in managing fish species and gives Reclamation more information to manage its facilities in an efficient manner. For example, the successful use of this system has allowed better estimates of fish populations, and progress toward recovery has been improved through better-informed stocking goals and management activities.

RECIPIENT INVOLVEMENT

The monitoring goal for this proposed project is to assist with developing methods and analyses techniques, using data gathered with PIT-tag antenna systems, to improve survival, population, and movement models on endangered fish species in the Colorado River Basin.

There are four (4) specific objectives and tasks:

1) Further development, testing, and analysis of a floating PIT antenna system. Building off of the prototype that was constructed under the previous CESU agreement, construct and develop three more systems and test them in various rivers of the Colorado River Basin.

2) Operation and Maintenance of existing antenna systems located throughout the Colorado River Basin. Several remote PIT Tag antenna systems have been built and installed at various locations in the Colorado River Basin including Havasu and Shinumo creeks in Grand Canyon; Hogback and PNM weirs on the San Juan River; PNM Fish Passage on the San Juan River; McElmo Creek on the San Juan River; Dolores River; Green River Canal on the Green River; Redlands Fish Passage on the Colorado River

3) Development and installation of additional experimental PIT tag antenna systems in the Colorado River Basin. Additional antenna systems are planned for streams in Grand Canyon, the San Juan and Animas rivers, and in several tributaries of the Upper Colorado River. At this point we are planning the installation of one site each year for the length of the project.

4) Transfer of data from existing systems to PI’s and the Colorado Heritage Natural Diversity Database. Remote antenna sites are somewhat autonomous and collect data 24/7. This data is stored on-site and is accessed using modems (cell and satellite) from one location. This location has been USU in Logan, UT. It is important to maintain the consistency of this data transfer and provide a line item for time and equipment (if any) that is required to continue Peter's involvement in downloading remote data systems and transferring that data to RIPs and CO Natural Heritage Center.

These methods are suggested for the field component in order to assist with estimating costs:

Task 1

1) Conduct 6-10 field trips for two years. Trips consist of floating for the length of the San Juan River from Farmington to Clay Hills (180 miles). Preliminary tests suggest ~ 20 miles/day can be floated.

2) Conduct 5-10 field trips per year, to be determined each year, for O&M of existing PIT tag antenna systems.

3) Conduct one field trip per year to install new 5-antenna PIT tag system, to be determined each year.

4) Analyze data and integrate into existing monitoring efforts as well as the PIT tag database being developed by the UC and SJ Recovery Programs.

5) Provide annual reports on efforts to integrate floating PIT tag data and develop better methods to determine survival and population numbers.

6) Attend up to two SJRIP meetings each year (for 4 years) to participate in meetings and development of methods and ideas.

Task 1 Schedule:

Task 2:

Over the last decade, Reclamation and various partners working through the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program and the San Juan River Endangered Fish Recovery Program (together, recovery programs) have deployed a number of passive interrogation arrays (PIAs) throughout the river basin and have also utilized other passive internal transponder (PIT) tag detection equipment (floating antennas, portable submersible antennas) to explore a variety of questions about endangered fish life history and population dynamics. PIAs have been utilized to evaluate use of fish passages (Price-Stubb, PNM Weir), entrainment in canals (Maybell Ditch, Green River Canal, Hogback Diversion), use of tributaries (Price River, White River, San Rafael River, Dolores River, McElmo Creek), use of restored habitats (San Juan habitat restoration), and use of off-channel wetlands (Stirrup, Stewart Lake). Portable submersible PIT antennas have been used to varying degrees to evaluate spawning behavior (Razorback Bar on the Green River, Yampa Canyon, San Juan River waterfall in Lake Powell, Colorado), collect ancillary PIT observations during mark/recapture surveys (Desolation/Gray canyons, Black Rocks, others) and potentially to evaluate capture efficiency of conventional sampling gear such as nets and electrofishing. Surveys utilizing mobile, floating PIT antennas have also been used successfully on the San Juan River to monitor Colorado Pikeminnow and Razorback Sucker.

While PIAs and other equipment in theory generate little operation and maintenance costs when compared to those associated with active capture methods (boat- or raft-based mark/recapture surveys), exposure to extreme hydrologic and meteorological conditions in the desert Southwest nevertheless do lead to unanticipated but non-trivial costs for repairs and component replacement. For example, flooding can occasionally inundate electronics and winter ice conditions can occasionally damage antenna housing. Communications between PIAs and remote computers is periodically disrupted, requiring site visits for repairs or equipment updates. Additional repairs may be necessary as a result of vandalism, damage by wildlife, and other environmental factors.

Specific elements of Task 2 (operation and maintenance of PIT antennas) at a minimum will include:

1. Routine remote monitoring and troubleshooting of PIA performance, including damage assessment and acquisition of parts.

2. Approximately 10-20 site visits/yr to repair equipment, activate, power-up and tune-up systems, and power down systems for winter months

Task 3:

Data from PIAs have been shown to enhance endangered fish monitoring efficacy, expose sampling biases of other monitoring techniques, provide large-scale geographical distribution, movement, and survival data, and other uses of value to endangered fish recovery programs. This information is necessary to provide justification of potential changes in endangered fish listing status, such as down-listing and delisting. Therefore, additional antenna systems are planned for streams in Grand Canyon, the San Juan and Animas rivers, and in several tributaries of the Upper Colorado River. At this point we are planning the installation of one site each year for the length of the project.

Specific tasks associated with PIA installation include:

1) Plan PIA installation, including pre-installation site visits, investigate permitting requirements, land access requirements, and other logistics necessary for installation and O/M access

2) Plan and construct PIA components including power source, wiring, antenna construction, and preparation of peripheral components (cables, anchors, etc).

3) Install, activate and test PIA.

Task 4:

Remote and portable PIT antennas generate large amounts of data on endangered fish survival, movement and distribution. To date, this data has not been compiled or evaluated for its analytical applications, and therefore is currently of limited use in endangered fish recovery. It is important to maintain the consistency of data transfer and continue downloading, organizing and managing data from remote data systems and transferring that data to the recovery programs and servers at the CO Natural Heritage Program.

1) Monitor and download data from PIA systems located throughout the Colorado Basin

2) Facilitate data analysis by providing technical support for data collection, management, evaluation and quality assurance/control, including transfer to CO Natural Heritage Program and recovery program director’s office.

Tasks 2-4 Schedule:

Deliverables The following deliverables will be required under this cooperative agreement.

1) Data collected during 2015-2020 float trips due each year by December 30th.

2) Annual Report on tasks 1-4 due each January 30th, including project summary in final year of agreement.

3) Oral presentation (30-60 minutes) at various meetings usually taking place in January, February, and December of each year. Plan for two meetings per year, one for each Program for which work is delivered, and attendance/presentation at one professional meeting/yr (Task 4).

RECLAMATION INVOLVEMENT

Reclamation biologists will be substantially involved in all aspects of this project including:

1) Construction, modification, and improvement of floating antenna system.

2) Collaborate with developing the research design and guiding field work.

3) Collecting field data and assisting cooperator with equipment management.

4) Reviewing proposed methods and analyses techniques and assisting with developing better methods.

5) Writing annual reports and presenting results of the work at public meetings.

6) Developing publications from the work to be disseminated to the public.

SINGLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION DESCRIPTION

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. This work is a continuation of work that was begun in 2010 with the identification of threats in the San Juan River Basin. The grantee is responsible for development and previous site work at all the PIT Tag sites. Their continued involvement for both installation and monitoring is critical for the continuity and continuation of the program.

(4) UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS. The grantee developed the techniques and methods for the installation and operation of may PIT antenna sites within the Colorado River Basin. Utah State University has been instrumental in developing the equipment, methods, and analyses for this project. They have the knowledge of the specific site locations as well as how all the equipment and data analysis is conducted.

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