Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Jim Eggemeyer, Director, Office of Sustainability
Subject: Resource Conservation District Agreement Amendment
RECOMMENDATION:
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Adopt a resolution authorizing an amendment to the agreement with the San Mateo Resource Conservation District to model Pescadero Marsh flood risks, increasing the amount by $50,000, for a new total amount not to exceed $1,016,386.
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BACKGROUND:
The San Mateo Resource Conservation District (RCD) is a special district within San Mateo County that provides comprehensive and integrated services around wildlife, water, climate, and agriculture to the local community. Its service area encompasses a significant part of the county, mostly along the coast. On July 1, 2017, your Board approved a contract with the RCD for an amount not to exceed $385,243 for services related to water quality improvement and natural resource protection. Since then, your Board has approved five additional amendments, bringing the total contract to $966, 386. Through this agreement the RCD provides support for watershed modeling and restoration, waste diversion, wildland fire risk reduction, and pet waste reduction.
DISCUSSION:
The RCD has experience working in San Mateo County on marsh restoration. It has also been a strong County partner in providing assistance with various water quality and resource protection projects throughout its service area. The RCD is well positioned to lead marsh restoration and modeling efforts due to their technical expertise and relationships with many of the stakeholders and regulatory agencies.
The proposed amendment with the RCD includes additional services related to improving modeling of flooding impacts in the Pescadero Marsh. This includes:
• Coordinating and facilitating agencies and stakeholders to provide input into models; and
• Developing an updated coastal dynamics model/hydro-dynamic model platform that cost-effectively integrates hydrology and hydraulic inputs from existing models of Butano Creek and Pescadero Creek; and
• Integrating work funded by the USFWS Service’s Coastal Program to develop both unimpaired annual hydrographs for Butano and Pescadero as well as the completed Quantitative Conceptual Model for breaching and water balance dynamics.
• Analyzing and collecting topographic, hydrologic, or water quality data to support model development.
• Working with San Mateo County Office of Sustainability (OOS), RCD, State Parks, and the Pescadero Roundtable to determine a subset of appropriate climate change analyses as future scenarios to model that will help forecast expected changes to the marsh and lagoon over time with sea level rise and changes to sediment transport and runoff, etc. This effort will link directly with the work OOS and USGS are currently conducting related to coastal vulnerability.
Given that the RCD is a governmental entity with the sought-after level of expertise and experience in the area of marsh restoration and modeling efforts, the Office of Sustainability is requesting a sole source waiver of the RFP process. In addition, the RCD is subject to transparency and accountability laws requiring public meetings, open records, annual audits, and financial reporting, which makes them a trusted County partner.
County Counsel has reviewed and approved the amended agreement and resolution as to form.
FISCAL IMPACT:
This contract amendment increases the overall contract by $50,000 for a new not-to-exceed amount of $1,016,386. The contract amount has been included in the Office of Sustainability’s FY 2019-21 Adopted Budget.