Statement_of_Work.pdf

STATEMENT OF WORK

FOR

WATER-QUALITY ANALYSES AND MODELING: TECHNICAL SERVICES TO

SUPPORT THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR’S EVERGLADES WATER-QUALITY

PROGRAM

JANUARY 20, 2023

GENERAL INFORMATION

Background: Water-quality analyses and modeling continue to be essential to improve, protect, and restore the quantity and quality of water in and entering Department of the Interior (DOI) Trust Lands, which in south Florida include: Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge), Everglades National Park (park), Big Cypress National Preserve, and Biscayne National Park, in order that the unique flora and fauna within these protected lands will be preserved as is mandated by the Organic Act (1916). This water-quality work is critical, as multiple Everglades restoration projects are coming online, to ensure that restoration goals are achieved without compromising water-quality targets, in particular, those set for nutrient levels in the marsh.

The Consent Decree (1991) and the state’s Everglades Forever Act (1994) (Everglades Forever Act & Settlement Agreement (F.S. 373.4592)) require that the State take steps to reduce the total phosphorus loads, and increase water supply to the Refuge, park, and other areas within Everglades Protection Area (EPA). The South Florida Water Management District (District) is charged with executing those steps in a correct and timely manner. The implementation of Best Management Practices within the Everglades Agriculture Area and the construction of the Stormwater Treatment Areas (STAs) and Flow Equalization Basins (FEBs) are expected to lower phosphorus concentrations to around 15 parts per billion (ppb) and increase water flows by 28%.

Currently the STAs are being expanded and optimized to accommodate the increased flows and to achieve target phosphorus concentrations. Ultimately, lower discharge concentrations approaching the 10 ppb criterion will be required to restore and protect the entire Everglades marsh and to achieve the goals of the Settlement Agreement.

The Park Service and Fish and Wildlife Service, both units of the DOI, have formed a technical group named Everglades Program Team (EPT) to address water quality issues in the Everglades, particularly in the Refuge and park; track compliance of the Consent Decree; and review implementation of the state’s Restoration Strategy projects. The EPT works closely with other federal agencies, such as the US Army Corps of Engineers and US Environmental Protection Agency, and state agencies, such as the Florida Environmental Protection Agency and the District. The contractor shall become a member of the EPT.

Purpose and Objectives: The purposes of this contract are to provide environmental technical support services to a team of DOI and park managers and to EPT on Everglades’ water-quality related issues. The contractor shall represent the EPT at technical meetings and conferences advancing the goals and interests of the park, Refuge, and DOI; assess and report on the status and trends of phosphorus levels and loads, model performance of STAs and FEBs, and, if required, serve as an expert witness representing the park, Refuge, and DOI on Everglades phosphorus litigation lawsuits.

Place of Performance: Contractor shall provide technical support as discussed below to the

Everglades DOI restoration team as a result of the phosphorus litigation lawsuits. The contractor shall be required to be onsite only as needed and determined on Task 8 of the Scope of Work below.

Performance Period: The government intends to award a firm fixed price purchase order. It will cover the period from April 20, 2023 to April 19, 2024.

SCOPE OF WORK

The contract’s work shall focus on water quality issues in the Everglades brought about by hydrologic changes resulting from past alterations to the natural system, implementation of restoration projects, climate change and sea level rise, and land uses changes. These activities may include:

• Tracking phosphorus compliance and developing further control measures sufficient to achieve the requirements of the Everglades’ phosphorus Consent Decree;

• Conducting water quality trend and phosphorus load analyses throughout south Florida and in particular in the EPA, which includes the water conservation areas and the park, and also in EPA’s adjacent basins;

• Modeling water management strategies, simulating operation of STAs and FEBs, analyzing results, and reporting on findings;

• Analyzing potential water quality impacts on the EPA and adjacent basins from proposed Everglades restoration projects;

• Tracking implementation of the Restoration Strategies initiatives proposed by the State of Florida in response to the Amended Determination.

• Briefing and advising managers, presenting and discussing results with technical groups, participating in technical meetings representing EPT, and writing clear, concise, and technically sound reports.

Contractor Tasks: The tasks, as described below, were prepared based on recent EPT project needs and interests; however, other SOW related tasks may be determined in the future, if the EPT’s interests and concerns change. All changes will be annotated in modifications to the award if additional costs will be incurred for the services. Specifically, the offeror shall provide an hourly rate and price by task, and an average hourly rate and total price for technical support services that include, at a minimum, the following tasks:

Task 1: Database compilation The contractor shall gather and combine Everglades hydrologic and water quality data, from various governmental agencies, state and federal, into an updated database of flow and water quality to support the assessment of trends, development of models, compliance requirements, and other analyses. The contractor shall perform this task, yearly or when requested by the Contractor Technical Representative (COR), to obtain the most up today data to compute park’s inflow concentrations and limits, Refuge’s phosphorus levels, and track the flows, water quality, water levels, and phosphorus loads in the inflows and outflows of the STAs, FEBs, Water Conservation Areas (WCAs), and park. This information provides important perspectives on the long-term responses of the system to implementation of water quality and quantity restoration measures and to variations in climate. Deliverables for this task include, but are not limited to:

reports describing the purposes and specifics of the database update--such as data sources, data type, dates, and quality of data--and an updated database of flows and phosphorus concentrations in a format specified by the COR. Deliverables shall be submitted to the COR for review and approval.

Task 2: Consent Decree compliance The contractor shall participate in quarterly Technical Oversight Committee meetings and other subteam meetings, as required by the COR, review and comment on relevant information in preparation for meetings, present and discuss his/her own data and analysis, and provide verbal and written technical advice to the DOI’s managers and EPT; participate in the evaluation of Consent Decree compliance calculations for inflows to the Refuge, Shark River Slough, and Taylor Slough and the Coastal Basins; and compile data, carry out analyses, evaluate trends in marsh and structures to review compliance with Consent Decree. Deliverables for this task include, but are not limited to: reports on compliance determination for Refuge, Shark River Slough, and Taylor Slough and the Coastal Basins; trend analyses of phosphorus concentrations, loads, and flows with the EPA; analysis of phosphorus excursions for Refuge and park inflows;

written comments, meeting notes, presentations, and reports summarizing analysis and findings pertaining to Consent Decree Compliance. Deliverables shall be submitted to the COR for review and approval.

Task 3: Regional water quality and quantity challenges and opportunities The contractor shall prepare analysis of restoration projects on their potential for impacting water quality in south Florida, specifically within and around the EPA. The effects of these projects, not only individually but as a group, may alter water management strategies that could impact water quality in the entire region. These projects include measures to achieve STA discharge limits and the 10 ppb total phosphorus criterion in the WCAs (such as Long-Term Plan, Restoration Strategies), efforts to restore hydrology (such as Everglades Restoration Transition Plan, Modified Water Deliveries, G3273 Constraint Relaxation/S356 Field Test and S357 Operational Strategy, Central Everglades Planning Project, and Western Everglades Restoration Project), and increases in discharges from Lake Okeechobee to the STAs and WCAs. The contractor may be requested by the COR to participate in Everglades’ restoration planning teams with the purpose of performing water quality analyses, STA and FEB modeling, and providing recommendations for monitoring. Deliverables for this task include but are not limited to: reports on Everglades flow and phosphorus dynamics, trend analysis on phosphorus concentrations and loads, and flows; written summaries of simulation impacts of restoration projects—such as those mentioned above—on park inflow phosphorus concentrations; reports analyzing regional phosphorus budgets; and reports on analysis of water quality and hydrologic data for different regions or project areas of the Everglades. Deliverables shall be submitted to the COR for review and approval.

Task 4: Marsh and treatment area assessment The contractor shall track performance of STAs and source water quality relative to Restoration Strategy objectives and modeling assumptions; identify trends, issues or discrepancies that could impact the likelihood of achieving treatment goals; evaluate adequacy of STA monitoring programs; compile and analyze relevant monitoring and research data from the natural marsh, treatment areas, and retention basins; analyze STA performance data in relation to research hypotheses and assumptions made in design; and update datasets for use in analyses and simulations. The contractor shall maintain an updated version of the Dynamic Model for Everglades Stormwater Treatment Areas (DMSTA), which is used in the Everglades for simulating phosphorus dynamics in marsh and treatment areas; improve conceptual design of the software and mathematical performance; and carry out calibrations for use in refining the design and operation of flow-equalization basins and treatment areas to achieve discharge limits.

Deliverables for this task include reports prepared by the contractor summarizing his/her current work on: analyzing data from STAs and FEBs; modeling phosphorus dynamics in Everglades’ wetlands, STAs and FEBs using DMSTA to achieve restoration objectives; DMSTA structure and calibration updates to improve performance. In addition, the contractor shall maintain a written log of updates and modifications made to the DMSTA and make both, the log and model, available to the COR upon request. The deliverables shall be submitted to the COR for review and approval.

Task 5: Restoration Strategies The contractor shall participate in the development and implementation of the Restoration Strategies Science Plan—a District’s project to improve water quality in the Everglades—to enhance treatment technologies with the objective of achieving the Water Quality Based Effluent Level (WQBEL) at each STA; participate in meetings and workshops and provide written comments on reports and presentations and provide recommendations; review detailed designs for Restoration Strategies projects, including major projects planned for the Refuge; and participate in Long-Term Plan meetings that discuss several topics related to STA operation, performance, and implementation of Restoration Strategies measures. Deliverables for this task include, but are not limited to: reports summarizing contractor’s analysis, findings, and recommendations presented and discussed at meetings; summaries of District’s progress report meetings; and analysis of alternatives to achieve WQBELs in discharges to the EPA. The deliverables shall be written reports submitted to the COR for review and approval.

Task 6: Miscellaneous tasks The contractor shall respond, in a timely manner, to miscellaneous requests from the COR to provide briefings, presentations, data analysis, and DMSTA modeling for projects related to

Everglades restoration. Deliverables for this task may include, but may not be limited to: reports summarizing analysis, modeling results, and recommendations. Deliverables shall be submitted to the COR for review and approval.

Task 7: Internet website The contractor shall maintain, for the duration of this contract, an updated website where work products and related information may be easily accessed and shared with members of the EPT and park and DOI’s managers only. Information on the website may include: data, metadata, reports, models and results, and any other pertinent work product. For this task to be accepted as complete by the COR, the contract shall maintain an updated website that is easily accessed and regularly available to EPT members with all of the contractor’s work products produced for this contract.

Task 8: Business trips to south Florida At the request of the COR, the contractor shall attend, in person, no more than three business meetings in south Florida. These trips shall be directly related to the performance of Tasks 1 through 6. Expenses for these business trips may be reimbursable, provided that the trip was pre-approved by the COR and the expense are appropriately documented. Invoices that include travel expenses must include documentation on: date and place, purpose of the trip, and costs (transportation, lodging, meals, and incidentals). All business travel expenses must adhere to the limitations described in the Federal Acquisition Regulation 31.205-46.

GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITIES

The COR will review, comment, and approve work products and other deliverables prior to the contractor’s submittal of any invoice. Also, the COR will schedule and coordinate business trips to south Florida for the contractor to attend professional meetings to accomplish Tasks 1 through 6.

DELIVERABLES

The COR will discuss with the contractor the purposes and objectives of the tasks, estimated level of effort in hours, expected deliverables, schedules, and budget. The contractor shall complete tasks and work products in a timely matter and within the estimated level of effort, summarize results and findings in writing, and submit deliverables to the COR for review and approval. Additionally, the contractor shall maintain an internet website with all of the deliverables, including data, metadata, reports, models results, and any other pertinent work product (see Task 7). Written reports submitted by the contractor shall follow standard guidelines similar to those required by peer-reviewed journals. Technical details for completing tasks and assignments, including methods, approaches, scope, final products, and schedules shall be discussed between the contractor and the COR at the beginning of the contract.

The contractor shall participate in meetings, either directly or remotely, to accomplish the tasks of this contract, and maintain a meeting written log with supporting documentation. Meetings documentation may include: (1) date, time, and duration; (2) agenda, purpose(s), and list of participants; (3) salient points; and (4) contractor’s recommendations.

INVOICING

The contractor shall submit invoices only after a task or a substantial (>50%) portion of a task has been completed and approved by the COR. The COR shall inform the contractor, within seven working days of receiving a deliverable(s), that a deliverable(s) is approved and a task is complete (or partially complete) or not approved and a task is incomplete. For those tasks qualified as complete (or partially complete) by the COR, the contractor shall submit an invoice according to budget specifications. For those tasks qualified as incomplete, the contractor must first address all comments provided by the COR and obtain the COR’s approval and confirmation that a task is complete (or partially complete) before submitting an invoice.

PAYMENT

Payment requests must be submitted electronically through the U. S. Department of the Treasury's Invoice Processing Platform System (IPP). To constitute a proper invoice, the payment request must comply with the requirements identified in the applicable Prompt Payment clause included in the contract, or the clause 52.212-4 Contract Terms and Conditions - Commercial Items included in commercial item contracts. The IPP website address is:

https://www.ipp.gov.

To expedite the process is recommended that the contractor provide a hard copy of the proposed invoice to the COR for approval prior to input into IPP.gov.

During the period of performance, the COR will be responsible for reviewing and accepting the technical requirements outlined in the tasks (see Section E) and will recommend approval or disapproval to the Contracting Officer. The Contracting Officer is the only one that can make formal changes or funds related determinations/adjustments to the contract.