Watercat, LLC

Watercat, LLC, a woman-owned small disadvantaged business based in John Day, Oregon, provides heavy equipment and water handling services for fire suppression and all-hazard incident response to the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management as a prime contractor, competing predominantly in full-and-open procurements without set-aside designations on individual delivery orders despite holding multiple small-business set-aside Incident Blanket Purchase Agreements (I-BPAs).

The company is a self-certified small disadvantaged business organized as a for-profit limited liability company. Watercat's capability portfolio centers on emergency response equipment deployment — specifically heavy equipment with integrated water resources, standalone water handling services, and combined equipment solutions — for fire suppression and all-hazard operations on federally managed lands. The vendor demonstrates rapid-deployment capability, with contractual language requiring mobilization of fully equipped, personnel-ready resources within sixteen hours of dispatch requests. Recent representative work includes a $49,600 firm fixed-price delivery order from the Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region (Region 6) in July 2024 for heavy equipment and water handling services, a $24,960 delivery order from Region 6 in September 2024 for combined equipment with water resources, and a $40,300 purchase order from the Bureau of Land Management Idaho Region in June 2025 for a Type 3 dozer.

Customer concentration is stark. The Department of Agriculture Forest Service Fire and Aviation Management National Interagency Fire Center accounts for six awards valued at $1.5 million combined potential value — representing 88% of the total $1.7 million pipeline — while the Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region holds five delivery orders worth $126 thousand, and the Bureau of Land Management Idaho Region accounts for one award of $40 thousand. The two customer rankings are identical, indicating that Watercat's dollar concentration and award count concentration track together around the National Interagency Fire Center.

Watercat holds six Indefinite Delivery Contracts structured as I-BPAs through the Forest Service's Virtual Incident Procurement (VIPR) system, all set aside for small businesses. Four I-BPAs carry $250,000 ceilings each and cover heavy equipment with water resources for Forest Service Regions 3, 5, and 6, extending through mid-2029 to mid-2030. One I-BPA covers water handling services across Regions 3, 5, 6, and 10 with a $250,000 ceiling (completion date June 2025). A sixth IDC with a $250,000 ceiling for heavy equipment with water in Regions 5 and 6 expired June 2, 2025. Four delivery orders placed against these IDCs account for $76,000 in combined potential value. Activity has accelerated from single awards in 2022 and 2023 to six awards in 2024, with two awards each in 2025 and 2026. Combined obligated dollars stand at $166,000 against $1.7 million in potential value, indicating that the bulk of Watercat's contract value remains unexercised across its active I-BPA ceiling.