REDACTED A.02. JA FAR Part 6_UMRB Capacity Increase_NDSU_Redacted.pdf

JUSTIFICATION REVIEW DOCUMENT

FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION - FAR PART 6

PROGRAM/EQUIPMENT: North Dakota State University Upper Missouri River Basin (UMRB) Plains Snowpack and Soil Moisture Monitoring Network.

AUTHORITY: 10 United States Code (USC) 3204(a)(1) and (b)(B) as implemented in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii)(A) and (B) - Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

For DoD, NASA, and the Coast Guard, services may be deemed to be available only from the original source in the case of follow-on contracts for the continued provision of highly specialized services when it is likely that award to any other source would result in- substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be requirements.

AMOUNT:

Prepared by:

Typed Name: Mika N. Mahyenga DSN: ( Title: Contract Specialist Date:

E-mail:

Technical Official:

Typed Name: Amy B. Bresel DSN:

Title: Project Manager Date:

Email:

Requirements Representative:

Typed Name: Amy B. Bresel DSN:

Title: Project Manager Date:

Email:

COORDINATED BY:

I have reviewed this justification and find it adequate to support other than full and open competition.

District Legal Counsel

Typed Name: Melissa M. Head Phone No.:

Signature: ate:

Deputy for Small Business

Typed Name: Matthew D. Hibbert Phone No.:

Signature Date:

stations in other states for example, NDSU has: in Montana pre-existing, complete, and planned for install in 2025) and in South Dakota (both complete) that could easily be retrofitted to save the program time and money. This resulted in some universities having sufficient capacity, whereas other NDSU needing more capacity.

3. Description of Supplies/Services: After the historic 2011 flood, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and various basin agencies developed a framework (2013 Recommendation) for the establishment of an Upper Missouri River Basin Soil Moisture and Plains Snow and Soil Moisture Monitoring Network (UMRB Monitoring Network).

The Water Resources Reform and Development Act 2014 (WRRDA 2014) included a requirement that the Secretary of the Army, in coordination with other specified agencies, carry out snowpack and soil moisture monitoring in the Upper Missouri Basin, which is defined as the Missouri River Basin above Sioux City, Iowa. The Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN Act) 2016 Section 1179(b) designated the U.S Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) as the lead agency for this effort, tasked to establish a network of stations to monitor the snowpack and soil moisture throughout the plains area. The plains area of the UMRB lies within Montana (MT), Nebraska (NE), North Dakota (ND), South Dakota (SD), and Wyoming (WY), and a small amount of northwest Iowa and southwest Minnesota fall within the basin of the Upper Missouri River Basin (UMRB).

The general requirements of the Upper Missouri River Basin Monitoring Network were to install a soil moisture and plains snow monitoring station in every watershed within the basin at a density of in every square miles ( monitoring stations total).

WRRDA 2014 included a requirement that the Secretary of the Army, in coordination with other specified agencies, carry out snowpack and soil moisture monitoring in the Upper Missouri Basin. WIIN 2016 Section 1179(b) designated the Corps as the lead agency for this effort. Work being performed under the SATOC consists of supplies, installation, operation, and maintenance of equipment to establish a network of stations managed by the state mesonet and development of supporting documents, which will supply data for use. The data from these stations will aid drought monitoring, modeling, snowpack, and soil moisture estimates and forecasting efforts by providing real time soil characteristics and snow data (depth and liquid content) for the Upper Missouri River Basin, which are vital to improve runoff estimates. All stations will have comparable data to one another such that modeling and forecasting efforts can be used in conjunction throughout the network. The data obtained from the network will be available for all federal, state, and local agencies to use for the improvement of existing products including National Weather Service (NWS) river forecasts and flood outlooks, National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC) drought monitor and outlooks, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) and National Resource Conservation Services (NRCS) water supply forecast, and various federal and state fire hazard reports. For USACE, the data

(NOHRSC) to improve their plains snow map. This map is a direct input into river and runoff models that are used by NWS and USACE. The river and runoff models also use soil moisture data to model the impacts of melted plains snow and rainfall to estimate the inflows in the Missouri River mainstem and tributary reservoir projects. Table 2 landowners and to gain and maintain relationships with local landowners and NDSU or to conduct on-going O&M at these remote locations dispersed throughout the Upper Missouri River Basin. The necessary infrastructure is already in place and owned by the universities. NDSU also has knowledge of operational efficiencies and the technical protocols required by the National Mesonet Program to conduct and oversee upgrading existing a consistency, continuity, and data integrity to ensure the necessary equipment is installed correctly and the data can be analyzed, therefore concerting the data to information on which to base management decisions.

NDSU already possess experience in installing the full range of equipment and site-specific knowledge, which minimizes any mobilization/start-up costs and delays in becoming familiar with the equipment and installation procedures, and data transmission to support the National Mesonet Program. The college has the unique inherent knowledge of the National Mesonet Program and Meteorological Assimilation Data Ingest System (MADIS), resulting in increased efficiency and data quality that will be transmitted to allow other agencies to utilize the information to make determination on how to improve existing or develop new projects based on the weather.

A sole source SATOC was issued in FY 2020 and FY2021 based on this rationale. This program was initiated via congressional direction, which did not give a typical planning period. The initial five-year requirement was based off of unknowns and assumptions of ly scoping the project. Upon completion of program Years 1 and 2, it was determined the constraint on stations installed and schedule staffing, land use agreement timelines, and those items details in section 2, Therefore, increasing the capacity of the NDSU SATOC, is the most cost-effective option to accomplish the work while maximizing continuity and data quality to ensure the equipment, data, and resultant information is available to guide decisions applicable to the UMRB.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: A Sources Sought was posted on SAM.gov on from 15 December 2023 to 5 January 2024,

a. Effective competition. There is little expectation that effective competition is likely. The SATOC holder has the knowledge, technical capabilities, and resources to continue supporting this requirement. Resoliciting this requirement to potentially increase competition would further delay the completion of the required Mesonets and impact ability to obtain the much-needed data to support the federal mandate.

b. Subcontracting competition. A determination was approved to waive the subcontracting plan. Because of the specialized nature of the work and the structure of each mesonet office, there are no small business subcontracting opportunities under this contract. FAR Clause 52.219-included in the solicitation and is not required to increase the capacity for the current SATOC. NAICS code 924120 currently does not have small business opportunities and the result of the Sources Sought demonstrated that the current market conditions and the complexity of this requirement does not support a small business set aside to support a subcontracting plan.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: A Sources Sought was posted to verify if market conditions have change. However, the basis for the previous Justification and Approval ( ) is still relevant to this extension, where USACE took other measures to increase competition at the base award. Upon being designated as the lead agency for carrying out and coordinating the activities associated with the UMRB monitoring network, the PDT has periodically conducted brainstorming sessions and similar discussion to determine if any opportunities are being overlooked. The sessions always brought the PDT back to the same opinion that there are no opportunities to compete this requirement or set it aside for Small Business given the results of the market research; the integrated nature of the mesonet and associated work; the need for data consistency, quality and integrity from previous work and the need for interagency cooperation to comply with the National Mesonet Program; to support and ensure a weather ready nation, to share data, and to gain cost efficiencies.

8. Market Research: A Sources Sought was posted on SAM.gov on from 15 December 2023 to 5 January 2024, The conclusion and recommendation found that each MESONET office has the necessary infrastructure already in place and has been a product of support and commitment from USACE, NOAA, and USBR. It is in the best interest to complete the existing work by increasing the capacity of the current contract with the state university MESONET offices. It is the most cost-effective option to accomplish this work, while maximizing continuity and equipment quality to ensure the data and resultant information is available to guide management decisions for improvement of existing products and/or the development of new products. Additionally, there is not chance in the current environment to substantiate a new strategy and the government will still need to justify sole sourcing the existing contractor to obtain the much-needed data. Any delay in the continuation of these contract will significantly impact the following: National Weather Service (NWS) river forecasts and flood outlooks, National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC) drought monitor and outlooks, USBR and Natural Resource Conservation Services (NRCS) water supply forecasts, and various federal and state fire hazard reports.

9. Interested Sources: A Sources Sought was posted on SAM.gov on from 15 December 2023 to 5 January 2024,

b. Other facts. There have not been any changes in the circumstances justifying the sole source strategy for this requirement. Throughout this document, a wide range of reasons have been given to justify why this requirement is not suitable for competition, and why it is not feasible to break the scope down in separate requirements. Subcontracting opportunities are not anticipated for this requirement since all the work will be performed by state university employees. A determination was previously prepared and approved by the USACE Contracting Officer pursuant to FAR 19.705-2(c) and approved at one level above the Contracting Officer to further document why no subcontracting opportunities exist for this mandatory requirement.

USACE must also adhere to the requirement of working in cooperation with other federal agencies. Those federal agencies choose to work with the state universities because of the shared benefit in terms of expertise, infrastructure, consistency of data, validity of results, and access to a larger pool of data and cost efficiencies. USACE agrees this method facilitates compliance with federal statues, is reasonable and is the best way to accomplish the mission and provide the greatest value to the government.

Approval

Based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the procurement to increase capacity on the NDSU Upper Missouri River Basin Soil Moisture and Plains Snow and Soil Moisture Monitoring Network (UMRB Monitoring Network) Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ), Single Award Task Order Contract (SATOC) with an increased estimated value of on an other than full and open competition basis pursuant to the authority of 10 United States Code (USC) 3204(a)(1) and (b)(B) as implemented in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii)(A) and (B) - Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements .

Signature: Date:

Typed Name: Constance R. Ellard Title: Contracting Officer