RFI_6300_KMF01PILOT_ATT_v1.pdf

RFI 6300 KMF01PILOT – Remote Sensing Water Quality Software and Services

CITY OF AUSTIN, TEXAS

Purchasing Office

PILOT PROJECT NOTIFICATION

Cover Sheet

PILOT PROJECT NUMBER: RFI 6300 KMF01PILOT

PILOT PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Remote Sensing Water Quality Software and Services

COMMODITY CODES: 96891,92045

DATE ISSUED: February 26, 2026

All inquiries and comments concerning this Pilot Project should be provided in writing and submitted electronically via email to Aaron Richter at Aaron.Richter@austintexas.gov with the subject line:

PILOT PROJECT # RFI 6300 KMF01PILOT

Company Name:

Company POC Name:

Address:

City, State, Zip Code:

Phone No. ( )

Email Address:

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR PILOT PROJECT PARTICIPATION ONLY. This PILOT PROJECT is issued solely for information and PILOT planning purposes. It does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a commitment to issue an RFP in the future. Respondents will be invited for presentations at the sole discretion of the City of Austin’s Watershed Protection Department.

The City of Austin is notifying that the Austin Watershed Protection Department is piloting for Remote Sensing Water Quality Software and Services

Please respond via email to via email to Aaron Richter at Aaron.Richter@austintexas.gov by March 12, 2026, at 3:00 PM CST, with your intent to participate in the pilot project.

Submit a brief presentation with the description of the product your company would like the City to consider.

Background:

Austin Watershed Protection needs to collect more frequent data examples, including, but not limited to:

1. Stream water depth and width to support the development of watershed planning models and improve biological assessments;

2. Soil moisture with regard to riparian health, stormwater control function, leaking infrastructure, CEF location, and regulatory compliance of land application permits;

3. Water Pollution and eutrophication leading to increased biological productivity (e.g., nuisance algal blooms) in Austin streams and reservoirs; and

4. Continued existence of vegetated buffers surrounding Critical Environmental Features for regulatory compliance.

Austin Watershed Protection seeks to assess whether available software and/or services can compile both public and private remote sensing datasets; securely store and clean the data;

perform basic calculations and statistical analyses; generate reports; and provide user-friendly tools to compare maps and remote sensing signatures over time.

PILOT PROJECT

RFI 6300 KMF01PILOT

Remote Sensing Water Quality Software and Services

FOR AUSTIN WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT

CITY OF AUSTIN, TEXAS

Preferred Capabilities for Remote Sensing Water Quality Data Collection, Processing, and Monitoring Software and Services:

1. Service Experience and Communication Provides compiled and cleaned remote sensing datasets for environmental monitoring, for government agencies or similar organizations, and has available customer support and engagement through email, chat, phone

2. Software and Service Capabilities

Access, compile, clean, and deliver public and/or private remote sensing datasets relevant to surface water conditions, soil moisture, vegetation, and water quality indicators.

Data from multiple sources, typically collected at different frequencies, and pictures that include various resolutions.

Fast processing timelines that include spectral analysis and quality assurance practices.

Capability to integrate and analyze additional datasets, such as aerial imagery, drone footage, or other relevant environmental data sources, and support analysis at multiple geographic scales, from individual parcels to the full City of Austin jurisdiction, and export cleaned datasets in formats compatible with ArcGIS and other GIS platforms.

3. Reporting and Evaluation Tools Tools to support analysis and decision-making, such as environmental indices (e.g., Normalized Difference Turbidity Index, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, or Normalized Difference Water Index, statistical analysis, dashboards or reports, change detection or automated notifications sent to the City of Austin, and exportable data and summary reporting.

4. Training, Support, and Implementation

Availability of onboarding, training materials, webinars, or live training sessions, and technical support and implementation during the pilot participation.

5. Other Functions

System access method (web-based or desktop), technical or hardware requirements, user capacity or licensing structure, and data storage or upload capabilities.