ITN for Ark Tools

The Colorado Department of Natural Resources, Division of Water Resources, is requesting competitive responses via Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) for development of two spreadsheet-based tools to support Arkansas River Basin water administration, with responses due July 31, 2026 at 12:00 p.m. MDT. Respondents may propose solutions for either or both tools. Colorado resident bidders are eligible for preference under state law, and Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses (SDVOSBs) officially registered and verified by the U.S. Small Business Administration Center for Veteran Enterprise may receive a 5% preference on pricing.

The Mainstem Water Admin Spreadsheet will consolidate water supply data, water rights priority information, stream location data, and historical information to support water commissioner daily decision-making. The Water Operations and Exchanges Approval Tool will consolidate stream conditions, exchange potential, calls, water quality, volumetric limits, and decree requirements for water exchanges and operations. Both tools must be spreadsheet-based, self-contained within Excel workbooks using VBA code for automation (though file-based database solutions such as SQLite may be included if kept in the same folder as the Excel file). The exchange tool must incorporate 45 specific decrees with capability for future expansion and track volumetric limits for exchanges rather than source water. All deliverables must comply with WCAG Level AA accessibility standards as applied to desktop files. Respondents must attend at least one mandatory in-person requirements gathering meeting with Division 2 staff in Pueblo for each tool.

The budget available is $100,000 for the Mainstem Water Admin Spreadsheet and $87,000 for the Water Operations and Exchanges Approval Tool. The desired completion date for the Mainstem tool is March 31, 2027 and December 31, 2027 for the Operations and Exchanges tool, with a project start of October 1, 2026. Evaluation will assess qualifications and experience, project solution clarity and completeness, schedule feasibility, and overall value relative to pricing. The expected evaluation period is August 3–14, 2026, with negotiations anticipated August 19–September 18, 2026 and a notice of award decision expected by September 30, 2026. Questions were due July 10, 2026. All products and intellectual property will become sole property of the State. The incumbent vendor for similar water district 16 tools is LRE Water.