Paso Robles Groundwater Basin Wellhead Monitoring Well Network Wellhead Elevation Surveying Services.pdf

COUNTY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO

EXECUTIVE OFFICE – PURCHASING SERVICES

Revised March 2026

INFORMAL REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL #1997

PASO ROBLES GROUNDWATER BASIN

GROUNDWATER MONITORING WELL NETWORK

WELLHEAD ELEVATION SURVEYING SERVICES

OCTOBER 5, 2026

The County of San Luis Obispo (County) is currently soliciting proposals for professional services from qualified persons and /or firms (Consultant) to provide professional surveying services to establish individual wellhead elevations for all wells within the existing Paso Robles Basin Groundwater Monitoring Network. The existing monitoring well network includes approximately 130 wells, which are primarily located on private properties. The County maintains right-of-entry permission from the landowners to allow periodic water level measurements and establishment of the wellhead reference point elevations. Water levels are measured on a regular basis to help inform the County, State, Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs), and other public agencies about the overall condition of the basin and it’s progress toward sustainability and compliance with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).

Each proposal shall specify each and every item as set forth in the attached specifications. Any and all exceptions must be clearly stated in the proposal. Failure to set forth any item in the specifications without taking exception may be grounds for rejection. The County reserves the right to reject any and all proposals and to waive any irregularity or informality in any proposal or in the Informal RFP process, as long as, in the judgment of the County, such action will not negate fair competition and will permit proper comparative evaluation of the proposals submitted.

This Informal RFP is posted on the County’s Purchasing website at:

https://www.slocounty.ca.gov/departments/central-services/purchasing-services/services/bid-rfp-opportunities.

Any changes, additions, or deletions to this RFP will be in the form of written addenda issued by the County. Any addenda will be posted on the website. Prospective proposers must check the website for addenda or other relevant new information during the response period. The County is not responsible for the failure of any prospective proposer to receive such addenda. All addenda so issued shall become a part of this Informal RFP.

All questions (requests for interpretations or corrections) pertaining to the content of this Informal RFP must be made in writing through the County’s Purchasing website by 3:00 p.m. on October 21, 2026. Requests submitted after said date may not be considered. Questions will receive a response within five (5) business days. Questions and responses will be posted (anonymously) on the Purchasing website, and can be viewed by accessing the Informal RFP. The County reserves the right to determine the appropriateness of comments / questions that will be posted on the website https://www.slocounty.ca.gov/departments/central-services/purchasing-services/services/bid-rfp-opportunities https://www.slocounty.ca.gov/departments/central-services/purchasing-services/services/bid-rfp-opportunities

County of San Luis Obispo INFORMAL RFP #1997 October 5, 2026 Page 2

If your firm is interested and qualified, please submit two (2) separate Adobe Acrobat Portable Data Format (.pdf) files, one (1) technical proposal and one (1) cost proposal, through the County’s Purchasing website at the address listed above by 3:00 p.m. on October 26, 2026.

If you have any questions about the proposal process, please contact the Buyer directly.

SAVANNAH PEREZ

Executive Office – Purchasing Services sperez@co.slo.ca.us mailto:Buyer@co.slo.ca.us

County of San Luis Obispo INFORMAL RFP #1997 October 5, 2026 Page 3

Table of Contents

I. INTRODUCTION

A. PURPOSE

B. BACKGROUND

C. PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE

II. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

A. COUNTY RIGHTS & OPTIONS

B. PREVAILING WAGE

C. AWARD AND STANDARD AGREEMENT

III. PROPOSAL FORMAT

IV. PROPOSAL SELECTION & CONTRACT AWARD

A. SELECTION PROCEDURES

B. SELECTION CRITERIA

C. CONTRACT AWARD AND EXECUTION

APPENDIX A – SCOPE OF WORK

APPENDIX B – SAMPLE CONTRACT

APPENDIX C – DESIGNATION OF SUBCONTRACTORS FORM

APPENDIX D – LOCAL VENDOR PREFERENCE

APPENDIX E – COUNTY TRAVEL POLICY

EXHIBIT A - DWR GRANT AGREEMENT NO. 4600014639

County of San Luis Obispo INFORMAL RFP #1997 October 5, 2026 Page 4

I. INTRODUCTION

A. PURPOSE

The purpose of this Informal Request for Proposal (RFP) is to solicit offers from qualified Consultant(s) (a single firm or group of firms or individuals working as team) (herein referred to as Consultant) to provide professional surveying services to establish individual wellhead elevations for all wells within the existing Paso Robles Basin Groundwater Monitoring Network. The existing monitoring well network includes approximately 130 wells, which are primarily located on private properties. The County maintains right-of-entry permission from the landowners to allow periodic water level measurements and establishment of the wellhead reference point elevations. Water levels are measured on a regular basis to help inform the County, State, Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs), and other public agencies about the overall condition of the basin and it’s progress toward sustainability and compliance with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).

See Appendix A for detailed scope of work.

The consultant contract is planned to be a “Time and Materials” based contract, with a Not- To-Exceed (NTE) amount, and the County shall pay to the Consultant as compensation in full for all services performed at the rates specified in the Consultant’s Rate Sheet (to be included in the Consultants Proposal).

Funding for the project will be from a California Department of Water Resources (State) Grant Agreement No. 4600014639, which is included as an attachment to the Sample Agreement (See Exhibit A). The Consultant shall be subject to the terms and conditions of the referenced grant agreement. All work will be completed in accordance with the County and other applicable local, state, and federal agency regulatory and code requirements.

B. BACKGROUND

The Basin is identified by the Department of Water Resources (DWR) in Bulletin 118 as Subbasin No. 3-004.06. The Basin is part of the greater Salinas Valley Basin in the Central Coastal region of California. The Basin, as defined in the GSP, encompasses an area of approximately 436,240 acres, or 681 square miles and is entirely within San Luis Obispo County. The Basin is classified by DWR as a high-priority groundwater basin with critically over drafted conditions.

SGMA requires sustainable groundwater management in all high and medium priority basins throughout the State of California. SGMA’s first critical deadline required formation of GSAs by June 30, 2017. SGMA authorizes any local agency, or combination of local agencies (e.g., counties, cities, certain special districts) overlying a groundwater basin to decide to become a

County of San Luis Obispo INFORMAL RFP #1997 October 5, 2026 Page 5

GSA. There are currently five (5) GSAs within the Basin that collectively have responsibility for implementing the Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP) and bringing the Basin into a sustainable condition by 2040. The Basin GSAs include the following:

• City of Paso Robles GSA

• County GSA

• San Miguel Community Services District (CSD) GSA

• Shandon-San Juan (SSJ) GSA

• Estrella – El Pomar – Creston (EPC) GSA

The GSP identifies deficiencies in the existing Basin monitoring network as a critical data gap and in Appendix L-2 of the GSP, the authors state that “Monitoring groundwater levels in the Subbasin will be the most important monitoring activity during GSP implementation. Changes in groundwater levels will be the primary metric to document progress toward measurable objectives or avoiding undesirable results. Additional monitoring wells and more groundwater level data are needed to adequately characterize groundwater levels throughout the Subbasin for GSP implementation and meet State standards. Additionally, a better understanding of geologic conditions, and the impact of these conditions on groundwater flow in the Subbasin, is needed.

These are key data gaps that will be addressed early during implementation”.

To address these data gaps in the Basin monitoring network, the County, in collaboration with the other GSAs, has made progress in expanding the current Basin Monitoring Network by incorporating a significant number of additional existing wells. The existing monitoring well network includes approximately 130 wells, which are primarily located on private properties.

In addition, there are several wells which are located on public land and county ROW. The County maintains right-of-entry permission from the landowners to allow periodic water level measurements and establishment of the wellhead reference point elevations. Water levels are measured on a regular basis to help inform the County, State, Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs), and other public agencies about the overall condition of the basin and it’s progress toward sustainability and compliance with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).

As described in DWR’s Monitoring Protocols, Standards, and Sites BMP for the Sustainable Management of Groundwater (2016), groundwater levels are a fundamental measure of the status of groundwater conditions within a basin. In many cases, relationships of the sustainability indicators may be able to be correlated with groundwater levels. The quality of this data must consider the specific aquifer being monitored and the methodology for collecting these levels.

The following considerations for groundwater level measuring protocols should ensure the following:

• Groundwater level data are taken from the correct location, well ID, and screen interval depth

County of San Luis Obispo INFORMAL RFP #1997 October 5, 2026 Page 6

• Groundwater level data are accurate and reproducible

• Groundwater level data represent conditions that inform appropriate basin management DQOs

• All salient information is recorded to correct, if necessary, and compare data

• Data are handled in a way that ensures data integrity

Per the referenced DWR BMP, the following considerations are important for collection of water level data that include regulatory required components as well as those which are recommended.

• Groundwater elevation data will form the basis of basin-wide water-table and piezometric maps and should approximate conditions at a discrete period in time.

• Depth to groundwater must be measured relative to an established Reference Point (RP) on the well casing. The RP is usually identified with a permanent marker, paint spot, or a notch in the lip of the well casing. By convention in open casing monitoring wells, the RP reference point is located on the north side of the well casing. If no mark is apparent, the person performing the measurement should measure the depth to groundwater from the north side of the top of the well casing.

• The elevation of the RP of each well must be surveyed to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88), or a local datum that can be converted to NAVD88. The elevation of the RP must be accurate to within 0.5 foot. It is preferable for the RP elevation to be accurate to 0.1 foot or less. Survey grade global navigation satellite system (GNSS) global positioning system (GPS) equipment can achieve similar vertical accuracy when corrected. Guidance for use of GPS can be found at USGS http://water.usgs.gov/osw/gps/. Hand-held GPS units likely will not produce reliable vertical elevation measurements accurate enough for the casing elevation consistent with the DQOs and regulatory requirements.

For the purposes of this proposal, the Consultant shall survey the elevation of the RP for each of the approximately 130 wells within the Paso Robles Basin Groundwater Monitoring Network to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88) to an accuracy of 0.1 foot or less.

C. PRE-PROPOSAL CONFERENCE

A virtual pre-proposal conference will be held on October 19, 2026, at 10AM via a ZOOM Web Platform. The meeting invitation details will be posted on the County’s Purchasing website prior to the meeting date. Interested consultants must RSVP for this meeting to Blaine Reely / Groundwater Sustainability Director via email at breely@co.slo.ca.us no later than 5 p.m. on October 16, 2026. This pre-proposal conference is not mandatory; however, it is highly recommended.

http://water.usgs.gov/osw/gps/ mailto:breely@co.slo.ca.us

County of San Luis Obispo INFORMAL RFP #1997 October 5, 2026 Page 7

II. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

A. COUNTY RIGHTS & OPTIONS

1. All proposals must be submitted to the County’s Purchasing website in Adobe PDF format no later than 3:00 p.m. on October 26, 2026. Late proposals will not be considered.

2. All proposals shall remain firm for sixty (60) days following closing date for receipt of proposals.

3. The term of the contract will be one (1) years from date of award. Pricing will remain unchanged throughout the term of contract.

4. The County reserves the right to request any missing information in a proposal submitted in response to this Informal RFP. Proposer shall have 24 hours to provide the information to the Buyer.

5. This Informal RFP does not constitute an offer of employment or to contract for services.

6. The County may, in its sole and absolute discretion, accept or reject any and all proposals, in whole or in part, with or without cause, in response to this Informal RFP and to make more than one award, or no award, or postpone or cancel, at any time, this Informal RFP process, as which the County determines to be in its best interests.

7. The County reserves the right to remedy technical errors, modify the published Scope of Work and approve or disapprove the use of all subconsultants.

8. The issuance of this Informal RFP does not constitute an agreement by the County that any subsequent selection process will occur, or that any contract will be entered into by the County.

9. The County has the right to use any or all ideas or concepts presented in any proposal without restriction and without conversation to all applicants.

10. All documents submitted to the County in response to this Informal RFP will become the exclusive property of the County.

11. The County reserves the right to award the contract to the firm who presents the proposal which, in the judgment of the County, best accomplishes the desired results.

12. Any contract awarded pursuant to this Informal RFP will incorporate the requirements and specifications contained in this Informal RFP. All information presented in a proposer’s proposal will be considered binding upon selection of the successful proposer, unless otherwise modified and agreed to by the County during subsequent negotiations.

13. Under the provisions of the California Public Records Act (the “Act”), Government Code section 7920.000 et seq., the County may be obligated to provide a copy of any and all records that the proposer provides County relating to this RFP (hereafter “Records from Proposer”), including those records which the proposer believes constitute confidential information. If the County determines (in its sole discretion) that (i) a person/entity has

County of San Luis Obispo INFORMAL RFP #1997 October 5, 2026 Page 8 requested a copy of records that would include Records from Proposer and (ii) the County does not have sufficient direct, first-hand knowledge to independently conclude that such Records from Proposer are exempt from disclosure under the Act, the County will provide the proposer written notice thereof (via mail and/or email). If the proposer does not, within seven court business days thereof, file the appropriate papers in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court (“Court”) seeking a court order preventing the County from disclosing any such Records from Proposer to the requester, and have its request heard by the Court within 30 days thereof, the proposer shall be deemed to have waived any claim that the Records from Proposer are exempt under the Act. (The County reserves the right to issue a written extension of time if it determines (in its sole discretion) that one is appropriate.)

Under no circumstances shall the proposer be entitled to recover from County any of its court costs, attorney’s fees or other litigation expenses that are related in any way to whether any Records from Proposer are exempt under the Act. If any proposer believes that information contained in its response to this RFP should be protected from disclosure, the proposer MUST specifically identify the pages of the response that contain the information by properly marking the applicable pages and inserting the following notice in the front of its response:

NOTICE: The data on pages _ of this response identified by an asterisk (*) contain technical or financial information, which are trade secrets, or information for which disclosure would result in substantial injury to the proposer’s competitive position. Proposer requests that such data be used only for the evaluation of the response, but understands that the disclosure will be limited to the extent the County considers proper under the law. If an agreement is entered into with the proposer, the County shall have the right to use or disclose the data as provided in the agreement, unless otherwise obligated by law.

The County will not honor any attempt by proposer to designate its entire proposal as proprietary. If there is any dispute, lawsuit, claim or demand as to whether information within the response to the RFP is protected from disclosure under the Act, proposer shall indemnify, defend, and hold harmless, the County arising out of such dispute, lawsuit, claim or demand.

14. The proposer warrants that no official or employee of the County has an interest, has been employed or retained to solicit or aid in the procuring of any contract resulting from this Informal RFP, if any, and further warrants that such person will not be employed in the performance of the contract without immediate written notice to the County.

15. Firms submitting proposals shall warrant that their offer is made without any previous understanding, agreement or connection with any person, firm or corporation submitting a separate proposal for the same project and is in all respects fair, without outside control, collusion, fraud or otherwise illegal action. This condition shall not apply to proposals which are submitted by firms who have partnered with others to submit a cooperative proposal

County of San Luis Obispo INFORMAL RFP #1997 October 5, 2026 Page 9 that clearly identifies a primary contractor and the associated sub-contractors.

16. Any proposer awarded a contract (“Contract”) pursuant to this RFP (“Contractor”) shall comply with all laws and regulations governing nondiscrimination in employment, including, without limitation, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Fair Employment and Housing Act (California Government Code §§ 12900, et seq.), and the applicable regulations promulgated thereunder, including but not limited to 2 California Code of Regulations §§ 11000, et seq

16.1. Nondiscrimination: The Contractor, with regard to the work performed by them during the Contract, shall not discriminate on the grounds of race, color or national origin or other legally protected criteria in employment or the selection and retention of subcontractors, including procurement of materials and leases of equipment. The Contractor shall not participate either directly or indirectly in the discrimination prohibited by Section 21.5 of Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations, including employment practices when the Contract covers a program set forth in Appendix B of said regulations.

16.2. Solicitation for Subcontracts, Including Procurement of Materials and Equipment. In all solicitation, either by competitive bidding or negotiation, made by the Contractor for work to be performed under a subcontract, including procurement of materials or leases of equipment, each potential subcontractor or supplier shall be notified by the Contractor of the Contractor’s obligations under this Contract and the regulations.

17. Unforeseen additional items and/or services may be required. The County therefore reserves the right to negotiate with the successful proposer for additional items and/or services beyond what is described in Appendix A to be added to the final contract.

18. Executive Order N-6-22 – Russia Sanctions: On March 4, 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-6-22 regarding Economic Sanctions against Russia and Russian entities and individuals. “Economic Sanctions” refers to sanctions imposed by the U.S.

government in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine, as well as any sanctions imposed under state law. By submitting a bid or proposal, proposer represents that it is not a target of Economic Sanctions. Should the State or County determine proposer is a target of Economic Sanctions or is conducting prohibited transactions with sanctioned individuals or entities, that shall be grounds for rejection of the proposer’s bid/proposal any time prior to contract execution, or, if determined after contract execution, shall be grounds for termination by the County.

19. Advanced Clean Fleets.

a. Vehicles with a GVWR greater than 8,500 lbs. and light-duty package delivery vehicles operated in California may be subject to the California Air Resources Board Advanced Clean Fleets regulations. Such vehicles may therefore be subject to requirements to reduce emissions of air pollutants. For more information, please visit the CARB Advanced Clean

County of San Luis Obispo INFORMAL RFP #1997 October 5, 2026 Page 10

Fleets webpage at: https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/advanced-clean-fleets.

b. All fleets hired by the County shall be listed on the CARB Advanced Clean Fleets webpage as a compliant fleet or the fleet owner must provide a signed statement that its fleet is not subject to the High Priority and Federal Fleets regulations in title 13, CCR, sections 2015 through 2015.6 and the State and Local Government Fleets regulations in title 13, CCR, sections 2013 through 2013.4.

B. PREVAILING WAGE

At least a portion of this work is prevailing wage work. For any work done by the prime contractor or a subcontractor under this agreement, in accordance with Labor Code Section 1720 et seq., prime contractor must pay employees at least the prevailing rate wages for public works performed on the Project. Prime contractor and any applicable subcontractors listed in your proposal must be registered with the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) throughout the term of the contract. Contractor must submit certified payroll records to DIR at least monthly for such work. The work is subject to DIR monitoring and enforcement.

Prime contractor, as well as all subcontractors under this agreement, must be registered with the Department of Industrial Relations for the entire term of the contract.

C. AWARD AND STANDARD AGREEMENT

The successful proposer is expected to execute a contract similar to the contract in Appendix B – Sample Contract. This sample contract is for reference to the anticipated terms and conditions governing the County and the successful proposer. The proposer must take exception in their proposal to any section of the attached contract they do not agree with. Failing to do so will be deemed as acceptance by the proposer to the terms spelled out in the sample contract. The County reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to add, delete, or modify, or negotiate additional terms and conditions to the attached contract. The selected proposer will be asked to provide evidence that County insurance requirements have been met.

https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/advanced-clean-fleets

County of San Luis Obispo INFORMAL RFP #1997 October 5, 2026 Page 11

III. PROPOSAL FORMAT

Technical Proposal:

A qualifying technical proposal must address all of the following points and shall be in the format outlined in this section:

A. Project Title

B. Applicant or Firm Name

C. Format and Firm Qualifications

To respond to the Informal RFP, a proposer must submit a proposal on or before the deadline. The County requests that the submitted proposal be limited to thirty (30) pages in length, not including the Cost Proposal, resumes, table of contents, covers, dividers/tabs, cover letter, or the following forms which can be included in the appendices: Designation of Subcontractors Form or Local Vendor Preference. The proposal must be signed by a person authorized to bind the proposing firm to the representations, commitments and statements contained in the proposal. The proposal must contain the following information and documents:

a. A cover letter summarizing the key points of the proposal (2 pages max.)

b. Description of Firm. A description of the firm’s organizational structure, the jurisdiction in which the firm is organized and date of such organization. In addition, provide a brief description of the firm’s qualifications and experience on projects of similar nature to those described in the proposal as well as projects/clients where consultant has performed as an extension of staff.

c. Authorized representative of the proposer. The name, address, telephone number, and email address of the person authorized to represent the proposer with respect to all notices, negotiations, discussions, and other communications relating to this proposal, to any negotiation relating to the contract.

d. Staffing. Provide an organizational chart identifying: 1) the project manager for the work; 2) each key person who would be assigned to carry out the work, and their respective roles in performing the work. Provide a separate description of the experience and qualifications of such manager and key persons, including a summary of experience on similar projects to those described in this proposal.

Resumes should be included for all key individuals as an appendix to the submittal.

e. References. A list of no more than three references for the proposer and no more than three references for subconsultants, including the names, addresses and

County of San Luis Obispo INFORMAL RFP #1997 October 5, 2026 Page 12 telephone numbers of recent clients, preferably other public agencies and a listing of the specific projects and key individuals that have participated in them. Include the dollar amount related to the participation. Identify how much experience the firm and subconsultant has had with public agencies.

f. Scope. A clear concise statement of the proposer’s understanding of the nature and extent of the services required and a specific outline to demonstrate how personnel would be organized to handle these services.

D. Work Plan/Technical Services

a. This section should establish that the proposer understands the County’s objectives and requirements, demonstrates the proposer’s ability to meet those requirements and outline clearly and concisely the plan for accomplishing the specified work as outlined in Appendix A - Scope of Work.

b. Indication of information and participation the proposer will require from County staff.

c. Project delivery schedule and milestones, and deliverables clearly defined.

d. Staffing plan and manhour estimates by discipline clearly defined.

E. Required Attachments Appendix

a. Resumes. In the Appendix, proposer shall include resumes for all key personnel, the specific projects and roles of the individuals, specialty licenses, certificates or relevant training. List all similar work.

Cost Proposal:

A. Fees The consultant contract is planned to be a “Time and Materials” based contract, with the total fees for the work as described under Project Scope not to exceed $200,000. The County shall pay to the Consultant as compensation in full for all services performed at the rates specified in the Consultant’s Rate Sheet (to be included in the Consultants Proposal).

The Cost Proposal shall include estimated total fees for each major task as described in the consultant’s Technical Proposal. Fees shall detail the billing rates for each firm’s key individuals, other position’s overhead rates and other costs. Include any and all other costs for office, vehicle, travel, cell phones, per diem, etc. Travel cost reimbursement rates must conform to the County’s Travel Policy reimbursements; costs above these rates are not allowed. See Appendix E – County Travel Policy.

County of San Luis Obispo INFORMAL RFP #1997 October 5, 2026 Page 13

IV. PROPOSAL SELECTION & CONTRACT AWARD

A. SELECTION PROCEDURES

Proposals will be evaluated by the Project Manager and will consider the completeness of a proposal and how well the proposal meets the needs of the County. Evaluations will be based on criteria as outlined in Section B (Selection Criteria) below. All proposals in response to this Informal RFP will be evaluated using the same criteria.

The sole purpose of the selection procedure is to determine, from among the responses received, which one is the best qualified firm at compensation that the agency determines to be fair and reasonable. Any final analysis or weighted score does not imply that one proposer is superior to another, but simply that, in the Project Manager’s judgment, the selected proposer appears to be best qualified for the County’s current and anticipated needs.

B. SELECTION CRITERIA

Proposals will be evaluated by the Project Manager based on, but not limited to, the below criteria.

C. CONTRACT AWARD AND EXECUTION

The County reserves the right to enter into a contract without further discussion of the submitted proposal. Therefore, the proposal should be initially submitted on the most favorable terms the proposer can offer.

The County reserves the right to withdraw the Informal RFP in whole or in part, at any time and for any reason. Submission of a proposal confers no rights upon a proposer and does

Selection Criteria – RFP Points Available

Understanding of scope of work / completeness of Work Plan

Demonstrated expertise in performing similar work 25

Qualifications, experience, and availability of key staff 25

Familiarity with state (DWR) and county procedures 20

Project delivery schedule and milestones, and deliverables clearly defined (Include Schedule and Milestones in Proposal) 15

Total Points Available Per Contractor 100

County of San Luis Obispo INFORMAL RFP #1997 October 5, 2026 Page 14 not obligate the County in any manner. The County reserves the right to award no contract and to solicit additional offers at a later date.

Each proposer, by submitting a proposal, agrees that if the County accepts its proposal, such proposer will furnish all items and services upon the terms and conditions in this Informal RFP and subsequent contract. Proposals that do not meet the mandatory requirements set forth in this Informal RFP will be considered non-compliant. Proposers may be disqualified, and the proposal may be rejected by the County for any of, but not limited to, the following reasons:

• Failure to properly respond to the Informal RFP;

• Evidence of collusion among the proposers submitting the proposals;

• Failure to comply with the specification requirements of the Informal RFP.

Terms, conditions, prices, methodology, or other features of the Contractor’s proposal may be subject to negotiation and subsequent revision. As part of the negotiations, the Contractor may be required to submit additional financial information and other data to allow for a detailed evaluation of the feasibility, reasonableness, and acceptability of the proposal.

The Informal RFP document and the successful proposer’s proposal response, as amended by agreement between the County and the successful Contractor, including e-mail or written correspondence relative to the Informal RFP, may become part of the contract documents. Additionally, the County may verify the successful proposer’s representations that appear in the proposal. Failure of the successful proposer to perform as represented may result in elimination of the successful proposer from competition or in contract cancellation or termination.

The requirements listed in this Informal RFP are not negotiable and will remain unchanged unless the County determines that a change in such requirements is in the best interest of the County.

The County expressly reserves the right, in its sole judgment, to accept or reject any or all proposals, with or without cause, modify, alter, waive any technicalities or provisions, or to accept the proposal which, in its sole judgment, is determined to be the best evaluated offer resulting from negotiation and taking into consideration other evaluation factors set forth in the Informal RFP. The successful proposer will be expected to enter into a contract with the County. If the successful proposer fails to sign a contract within fifteen (15) business days, unless the County grants an extension, following the delivery of the contract documents, the County may elect to negotiate a contract with the next-highest ranked proposer.

County of San Luis Obispo INFORMAL RFP #1997 October 5, 2026 Page 15

The County shall not be bound, or in any way obligated, until both parties have executed a contract. The selected proposer may not incur any chargeable costs prior to final contract execution. The foregoing should not be interpreted to prohibit either party from proposing additional contract terms and conditions during the negotiation of the final Contract.

The supplies and services are to be provided in compliance with all applicable state and federal standards, rules and regulations. The County reserves the right to request additional written and/or oral information from proposers at any time before contract award, in order to obtain clarification of their responses.

County of San Luis Obispo INFORMAL RFP #1997 October 5, 2026 Page 16

APPENDIX A – SCOPE OF WORK

Introduction

The County of San Luis Obispo (County) is currently soliciting proposals for professional services from qualified persons and /or firms (Consultant) to provide professional surveying services to establish individual wellhead elevations for all wells within the existing Paso Robles Basin Groundwater Monitoring Network. The existing monitoring well network includes approximately 130 wells, which are primarily located on private properties. The spatial location of each of the wells to be surveyed is included in Table 1. The location of the subject wells are also graphically depicted in Figure 1. The County maintains right-of-entry permission from the landowners to allow periodic water level measurements and establishment of the wellhead reference point elevations.

In addition, the successful proposer may be requested to provide similar services as may be required to facilitate and support the efforts of the County of San Luis Obispo (County) Department of Groundwater Sustainability.

Funding for the work to be provided will be from the California Department of Water Resources (State) Grant Agreement No. 4600014639, which is included as an attachment to the Sample Agreement (See Exhibit B). The Consultant shall be subject to the terms and conditions of the referenced grant agreement.

All work will be completed in accordance with the County and other applicable local, state, and federal agency regulatory and code requirements.

Scope of Services

The Scope of Work for this contract is as described below. All aspects of the work should be done in close coordination with County Director of Groundwater Sustainability.

• The consultant team shall review and become familiar with the locations and site access conditions for each of the existing monitoring well network which includes approximately 130 wells. The Consultant shall make field staff aware that the majority of the subject wells are primarily located on private properties and precautions shall be made to avoid any adverse impacts and / or damages to private property. The Consultant shall be held liable for any damages that occur to any property as a direct or indirect consequence of the Consultants actions.

• The consultant shall coordinate with the County Director of Groundwater Sustainability to provide advance notification for each well landowner regarding when the field work is to be scheduled on each affected landowners property. Field staff shall not enter on any private property without first contacting the landowner and obtaining permission to perform the work. County staff and other consultants shall assist the consultant in landowner notification and obtaining permissions.

County of San Luis Obispo INFORMAL RFP #1997 October 5, 2026 Page 17

• The consultant shall measure the Reference Point (RP) elevation of each of the wells which comprise the existing monitoring well network. The network includes approximately 130 wells. The elevation of the RP of each well must be surveyed to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88. The elevation of the RP must be accurate to within 0.1 foot or less. Survey grade global navigation satellite system (GNSS) global positioning system (GPS) equipment can achieve similar vertical accuracy when corrected. Guidance for use of GPS can be found at USGS http://water.usgs.gov/osw/gps/. Hand-held GPS units likely will not produce reliable vertical elevation measurements accurate enough for the casing elevation consistent with the DQOs and regulatory requirements.

• Deliverables:

• Monitoring Well RP Elevations surveyed to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88. The elevation of the RP must be accurate to within 0.1 foot or less. Final elevation data to be provided in an MS Excel file and in a GIS geospatial shape file.

• Site Photographs for each well site which photo-document the RP for each well and any site conditions that are deemed relevant.

• Copies of field notes and any other information that is obtained or created by the survey field teams for each well and any site conditions that are deemed relevant.

• Summaries of any communications that may occur between consultant staff and well landowners, including the date and time that such communications occurred.

http://water.usgs.gov/osw/gps/

County of San Luis Obispo INFORMAL RFP #1997 October 5, 2026 Page 18

TABLE 1

County of San Luis Obispo INFORMAL RFP #1997 October 5, 2026 Page 19

County of San Luis Obispo INFORMAL RFP #1997 October 5, 2026 Page 20

County of San Luis Obispo INFORMAL RFP #1997 October 5, 2026 Page 21

County of San Luis Obispo INFORMAL RFP #1997 October 5, 2026 Page 22

FIGURE 1

County of San Luis Obispo INFORMAL RFP #1997 October 5, 2026 Page 23

APPENDIX B – SAMPLE CONTRACT

Attached as a separate document.

County of San Luis Obispo INFORMAL RFP #1997 October 5, 2026 Page 24

APPENDIX C – DESIGNATION OF SUBCONTRACTORS FORM

County of San Luis Obispo INFORMAL RFP #1997 October 5, 2026 Page 25

APPENDIX D – LOCAL VENDOR PREFERENCE

The County has established a local vendor preference. When quality, service, and other relevant factors are equal, responses to Requests for Proposals will be evaluated with a preference for local vendors. Note the following exceptions:

1. Those contracts which State Law or, other law or regulation precludes this local preference.

2. Public works construction projects.

A "local" vendor preference will be approved as such when, 1) The vendor conducts business in a fully staffed office with a physical address within the County of San Luis Obispo; 2) The vendor holds a valid business license issued by the County or a city within the County; and 3) The vendor has conducted business at the local address for not less than six (6) months prior to the due date of this Request for Proposal.

Proposals received in response to this Request for Proposal will be evaluated by the Selection Committee considering the local vendor preference described above when quality, service and other relevant factors are equal. The burden of proof will lie with proposers relative to verification of "local" vendor preference.

YES

NO

Do you claim local vendor preference?

Do you conduct business in an office with a physical location within the County of San Luis Obispo?

Business Address:

Years at this Address:

Does your business hold a valid business license issued by the County or a City within the County?

Name of Local Agency which issued license:

Business Name: _____________________________________________________________________________

Authorized Individual: ___________________________ Title: _____________________________________

Signature: _______________________________________ Dated: ___________________________________

County of San Luis Obispo INFORMAL RFP #1997 October 5, 2026 Page 26

APPENDIX E – COUNTY TRAVEL POLICY

County of San Luis Obispo INFORMAL RFP #1997 October 5, 2026 Page 27

EXHIBIT A - DWR GRANT AGREEMENT NO. 4600014639