To: Board of Directors, Sonoma County Water Agency
Department or Agency Name(s): Sonoma County Water Agency
Staff Name and Phone Number: David Cook 707-322-8176
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): First
Title:
Title
Fryer Creek Beaver Impact Analysis
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Recommended Action:
Recommended action
Authorize Sonoma County Water Agency’s General Manager to execute an agreement with Prunuske Chatham, Inc. for ecological consulting through November 30, 2023 in the not-to-exceed amount of $115,795. (First District)
end
Executive Summary:
Beavers have constructed dams on flood control channels at Fryer Creek and in an unnamed tributary in Sonoma. The Sonoma County Water Agency (Sonoma Water) wants to evaluate if the beaver activity poses a flood risk to surrounding development and infrastructure. Additionally, Sonoma Water wants to develop a design for managing beaver activity while maintaining flood control services, and to create a document to serve as a guide for managing future beaver activity in flood control channels.
Discussion:
HISTORY OF ITEM/BACKGROUND
Beavers have constructed several dams on Sonoma Water’s flood control channels at Fryer Creek and an adjacent tributary in downtown Sonoma. These creeks are engineered flood control channels owned and maintained by Sonoma Water. A pair of beavers constructed a wood and mud dam across East Fryer Creek tributary in spring 2019 that impounded water and flooded an adjacent maintenance road. By late-summer 2020, two additional dams had been constructed downstream of the initial dam. The combined dams impound approximately 1,300 feet of channel. The beavers presumably colonized the creeks because of the riparian restoration efforts implemented by Sonoma Water, which provide a food source for beaver.
As an interim management action, pond levelers were installed on the three dams to stabilize water levels and to discourage additional dam construction. The levelers were installed during summer 2020 to maintain the beaver dams and the ponded areas the beavers inhabit, while reducing water levels below an access road used by maintenance and emergency equipment.
Sonoma Water proposes to maintain habitat for the beavers while managing the risk of flooding, based on the findings of the ecological consultant. There is the concern that beaver activity may reduce the flood capacity of the channel and increase the risk of flooding to adjacent development during winter high flows. The dams are located near several residences, roads, and other infrastructure.
Sonoma Water proposes to: a) evaluate if the beaver dams pose a flood risk, b) develop a design for managing beaver activity while maintaining flood protection (if needed), c) develop design alternatives for managing beaver activity, and d) prepare a guidance for evaluating and managing potential future beaver activity at Fryer Creek and other flood control channels owned by Sonoma Water.
SELECTION PROCESS
On July 6, 2020, Sonoma Water issued a Request for Statements of Qualifications (RFQ) to the 50 firms listed on Attachment 1 (Recipient List, RFQ 19/20-116).
The RFQ was also posted on the Sonoma Water and County of Sonoma Purchasing Department websites.
The following criteria were used to evaluate each firm:
• Thoroughness of SOQ
• Professional qualifications and demonstrated ability to perform the work
• Exceptions to standard terms in the sample agreement
The 37 firms listed below submitted Statements of Qualifications (SOQs):
1. AEI Consultants, Walnut Creek, CA
2. AES, Sacramento, CA
3. Alta Archaeological Consulting, LLC, Santa Rosa, CA
4. Ascent Environmental, Inc., Sacramento, CA
5. Baseline Environmental Consulting, Emeryville, CA
6. Brelje & Race, Santa Rosa, CA
7. Camas, LLC, Jacksonville, OR
8. Catalyst Group, Inc., Greenbrae, CA
9. CBEC, Inc., Petaluma, CA
10. Davey Resource Group, Inc., Atascadero, CA
11. Dudek, Pasadena, CA
12. ECORP Consulting, Inc., Rocklin, CA
13. ESA, Sacramento, CA
14. ESSA Technologies Ltd., Vancouver, BC
15. FirstCarbon Solutions, Inc., Walnut Creek, CA
16. FlowWest, Oakland, CA
17. Freshwater Trust, Portland, OR
18. GEI Consultants, Inc., Rancho Cordova, CA
19. HDR Engineering, Inc., Walnut Creek, CA
20. Horizon Water and Environment, LLC, Oakland, CA
21. HTI-Vemco USA, Inc./Innovasea, Seattle, WA
22. Inter-Fluve, Hood River, OR
23. Live Oak Associates, Inc., San Jose, CA
24. Ninyo & Moore, Inc., Alameda, CA
25. Pacific Watershed Associates, Inc., Petaluma, CA
26. Panorama Environmental, Inc., San Francisco, CA
27. Prunuske Chatham, Inc., Sebastopol, CA
28. Questa Engineering Corporation, Petaluma, CA
29. Rincon Consultants, Inc., Oakland, CA
30. Sequoia Ecological Consulting, Inc., Danville, CA
31. SF Estuary Institute, San Francisco, CA
32. Sol Ecology, Inc., Petaluma, CA
33. Tom Origer and Associates, Rohnert Park, CA
34. Vollmar Natural Lands Consulting, Inc., Sacramento, CA
35. Walls Land + Water, LLC, Santa Cruz, CA
36. Watercourse Engineering, Inc., Davis, CA
37. WRA, Inc., Petaluma, CA
Prunuske Chatham, Inc. was selected for this work because of their creek restoration and hydrological modeling expertise and local knowledge of the Sonoma area.
Sonoma Water may seek to amend or enter into subsequent agreement(s) with Board approval if required, relying upon this competitive selection process, after the preliminary or initial work is completed for the project.
SERVICES TO BE PERFORMED
Under the proposed agreement, Prunuske Chatham, Inc. will analyze existing conditions, prepare hydraulic models, develop alternative management scenarios, and create a guidance document for evaluating and managing potential future beaver activity at Fryer Creek and other flood control channels.
Prior Board Actions:
None
Fiscal Summary
|
Expenditures |
FY 20-21 Adopted |
FY21-22 Projected |
FY 22-23 Projected |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
$115,795 |
|
|
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Additional Appropriation Requested |
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Total Expenditures |
$115,795 |
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Funding Sources |
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|
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|
General Fund/WA GF |
|
|
|
|
State/Federal |
|
|
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Fees/Other |
$115,795 |
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Use of Fund Balance |
|
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Contingencies |
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Total Sources |
$115,795 |
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Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
Budgeted amount of $115,795 is available from FY 2020/2021 appropriations for the Flood Control Zone 3A fund. No additional appropriation is required.
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Staffing Impacts: |
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Position Title (Payroll Classification) |
Monthly Salary Range (A-I Step) |
Additions (Number) |
Deletions (Number) |
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Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
N/A
Attachments:
Attachment 1: Recipient List, RFQ 19/20-116
Attachment 2: Agreement with Prunuske Chatham, Inc.
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None