Water Research

This is a SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE for a Market Research ONLY to determine the availability of small business firms for a potential small business category type set-aside. No proposals are being requested or accepted with this synopsis. NO AWARD will be made from this Sources Sought. NO SOLICITATION, SPECIFICATIONS, OR DRAWINGS ARE AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME; therefore, do NOT request a copy of a solicitation. Potential offerors having the skill, and capabilities necessary to perform the described project are invited to provide feedback via email to Ronalda Burton at Ronalda. Burton@usace.army.mil and Sonia Boyd at Sonia.j.boyd@usace.army.mil. All responses will be used to determine the appropriate acquisition strategy for a potential future acquisition. No reimbursement will be made for any costs associated with providing information in response to this notice or any follow up information requests. Particularly, the purpose of this NOTICE is to gain knowledge of potential small business sources to include small business in the following categories: Certified 8a, Certified HUB Zone, Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB), and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB).  The capabilities will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining to Set-Aside for the Small Business Community or to conduct as an Other Than Small Business Procurement. Other than Small Businesses may respond to this NOTICE in the event the market does not indicate Small Business interest, however, preference will be given to the Small Business categories listed above. The government must ensure there is adequate competition among the potential pool of available contractors.  The NAICS code for this notice is 541714.

Overview

The contractor shall provide all labor and expertise needed to construct, apply, and document ecological and engineering models of riparian, riverine, and estuarine processes to inform water resource management decisions. Areas of research may include: river engineering, ecological modeling, water quality modeling, ecosystem restoration, watershed management, environmental flow management, hydrologic connectivity, and decision analysis. This task is typically conducted by individuals with a bachelor’s degree in ecological engineering, ecology, civil engineering, or environmental data science. The contractor should have at least two years of experience in scientific research, laboratory analysis, field data collection, numerical model development, and writing professional documents. Experience can include part-time or summer internships in a higher learning institution or professional practice.  

Task 1

Development of applied ecological and engineering models of riparian, riverine, and estuarine processes to inform water resource management decisions. 

• Develop model code for ecological and engineering models within the R Statistical Software Language including functions, loops, packages, and graphical user interfaces.
• Establish and document model development workflows that incorporate open science principles and execute these principles with open work practices.
• Apply existing models to assess relevant water management outcomes.
• Develop model code to address important stream and river management issues such as stream ecological assessment, hydraulic geometry, and discharge estimation.
• Produce technical data, maps, and figures for scientific presentations and documents.
• Document research methods and findings for reproducibility by others via internal reports or external publication.

Task 1 Deliverables: A monthly presentation shall summarize progress made. A final report, model code, and research notes shall be made available. All results shall be defensible for peer review and shall be incorporated into peer reviewed scientific abstracts and publications.

Task 2

Application of applied ecological and engineering models of riparian, riverine, and estuarine processes to inform cutting-edge ecological modeling questions and analyses. 

• Develop user interfaces to rapidly collect and input data to habitat suitability tools.
• Produce technical data, maps, and figures for scientific presentations and documents.
• Document research methods and findings for reproducibility by others via internal reports or external publication.

Task 2 Deliverables: A monthly presentation shall summarize progress made. A final report, model code, and research notes shall be made available. All results shall be defensible for peer review and shall be incorporated into peer reviewed scientific abstracts and publications.

Travel will be required for project relevant meetings.