Water Resources Review and Research | W9126G 17 2 977

Opportunity Information: Apply for W9126G 17 2 977

The Water Resources Review and Research opportunity (RSOI W9126G-17-2-SOI-977) is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Fort Worth District request for statements of interest from universities that can support the District's Water Resources Branch through a cooperative agreement. The project was intended to begin in summer 2017, with the government using submitted statements of interest to identify the most suitable academic partner(s) before inviting a selected university to submit a full proposal. The work is positioned as a mix of technical review and applied research meant to strengthen and validate water resources analyses used by the Fort Worth District, particularly in Texas.

Funding for the base effort was expected to be about $50,000, with additional optional tasks possible if funds became available. The initial period of performance is 12 months from the date of award, and the agreement includes four potential 12-month option periods, allowing the effort to extend up to five years total if options are exercised. The notice of award was anticipated no later than September 30, 2017. The opportunity is listed under CFDA 12.113 and falls under the Environment activity category. Eligibility is limited to public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, and the government expected to make one award.

USACE signaled that it planned to have substantial involvement throughout the life of the project, which is why the anticipated funding instrument is a cooperative agreement rather than a more hands-off grant. The Water Resources Branch would play an active management and technical role, collaborating with the selected university to identify the best-qualified academic personnel for the various tasks, and USACE would conduct quality assurance reviews of the annual reports produced under the agreement. The detailed scope of government involvement was to be finalized later in a statement of objectives provided only to those invited to submit a full proposal.

The anticipated technical work centers on reviewing and improving water resources models, reports, and supporting analyses. Key tasks include technical review and analysis of hydraulic and hydrologic modeling and related documentation, plus software scripting support for USACE Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC) tools. The deliverables also include building measurable watershed characteristics for all current USGS streamflow gages in Texas (about 570) using HEC-GeoHMS, conducting a loss rate study focused on initial and constant loss rates observed during rare or extreme precipitation events in Texas, and developing regional regression equations for the 1-percent annual chance exceedance (often referred to as the 100-year) flow for the Trinity and Guadalupe River basins at roughly 100 locations using results from calibrated HEC-HMS models. Another major component is an urban hydrology methods update: verifying and potentially updating the Fort Worth District's urban equations used to estimate Snyder's lag time and peaking coefficients, using observed gage data along with soil type, land use, and contemporary stormwater management practices.

At the statement-of-interest stage, applicants were not asked for a full technical proposal or budget. Instead, interested universities needed to email a short qualifications package (maximum two pages, single-spaced, 12-point font) including basic contact information and a brief statement of qualifications. That qualifications summary needed to cover a biographical sketch, relevant past projects and clients, the staff/faculty/students available and their expertise, and any other capabilities that would support successful completion of the work (such as equipment and laboratory or field facilities). Submissions were to be sent to the Fort Worth District contracting point of contact, Mrs. Ali Marshall, at alisa.marshall@usace.army.mil, with questions directed to the same office.

Statements of interest were to begin being reviewed on September 1, 2017, and the request was to remain open until an investigator team was selected. Submissions were evaluated by a review board at the receiving installation/activity, with selection driven primarily by the specific experience and capabilities of the university personnel in areas tied to the stated hydrology, hydraulics, modeling, scripting, and watershed/regression study requirements. Universities that best matched the program objectives would then be invited to submit a complete study proposal for final consideration.

• The Fort Worth District in the environment sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Water Resources Review and Research" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.113.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-08-18.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-09-01. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.

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