Platte River Channel Becomes a Focus for Platte River Cooperative Program Studies2001

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Water Conservation/Supply Reconnaissance Study Pre - proposal Meeting Minutes January 23, 1998 The pre - proposal meeting began at 10:00 a.m. at the Fish and Wildlife Service Office in Denver, Colorado. The meeting was conducted by John Lawson. After self introductions, Mr. Lawson reviewed for the consulting firm representatives the structure and the committees established by the Platte River Research Cooperative Agreement (Cooperative Agreement). The Cooperative Agreement provides for the establishment of a Governance Committee to review, direct, and provide oversight for the activities undertaken under the Cooperative Agreement. In accordance with the Milestones set forth in the Cooperative Agreement, the Governance Committee has established the Water Management Committee, the Land Committee, and the Technical Committee to carry out specific activities identified in the Cooperative Agreement. As outlined in the Cooperative Agreement, the Executive Director, working under the direction of the Governance Committee, is responsible for planning, managing, directing, and coordinating activities of the Cooperative Agreement. The Governance Committee is currently seeking an individual or firm to serve as its Executive Director. The presence of the Acting Executive Director, Jim Lutey, was acknowledged at the meeting. A Selection Committee was also established for the purpose of soliciting Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) from interested consulting firms to do a Water Conservation/Supply Reconnaissance Study (Study). The Selection Committee is responsible for evaluating the proposals submitted by the consulting firms, interviewing the highest rated consulting firms, and recommending to the Governance Committee the consulting firm to perform the Study. Members of the Selection Committee that were present at the meeting were acknowledged. The Study will be funded entirely by the States of Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming ( "three States "). Since the funding is to be provided by the three States and due to the contracting requirements of each state, there will be three separate contracts for the Study, one for each state. Hence, the States will pay one -third of each billing statement. The process for submittal of billing statements has yet to be resolved. A contract representative will be named at a later date. Next, Mr. Lawson reviewed with the consulting firm representatives the letter of notification, dated January 15, 1998, inviting the short listed firms prepare a proposal. A total of thirteen consulting firms submitted SOQs, which were evaluated based on experience, staff capabilities, technical capabilities of individual team members, and past project work. Although the Selection Committee had intended to create a short list of three (3) to five (5) firms, seven (7) of the firms rated highly, so seven (7) firms were included on the short list. The Selection Committee will review the proposal submitted and select at a minimum three firms to be interviewed. After the interviews are completed, the Selection Committee will recommend to the Governance Committee the firm to perform the Study. A consulting firm may elect not to prepare a proposal, if so desired. The question was asked about the possibility of some short listed firms combining. If desired, some of the short listed firms may combine. The question was asked if the criteria used to evaluate the proposals will be made available to the consulting firms before the proposals were due. The Selection Committee will provide a list of the evaluation criteria to the consulting firms for their use during proposal preparation. Section A., Item 8. of the Proposal Preparation Guide that addresses conflict of interest was discussed. The consulting firms were asked to identify any potential conflict of interests, including subcontractors. Conflict of interest will be one of the criterions for the proposal evaluation. The concern is that the firm selected to perform the Study maybe viewed by the general public as "open minded" and can provide an unbiased appraisal of the water conservation/supply opportunities in the Platte River Basin. The water conservation/supply goal was identified and is to, for the first increment of the proposed Program, produce annually on average a minimum of 60,000 acre -feet of net reductions in shortages to species specific target flows in the associated habitats. The Study includes water supply opportunities as well as water conservation.