EXHIBIT 12-C

MONTEREY PENINSULA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT

MEMORANDUM

DATE: January 12, 2006

TO: David Berger, General Manager

FROM: Andrew Bell, District Engineer

SUBJECT: Recommendation for Consultant

2006 Monterey Peninsula Seawater Desalination Projects Evaluation

SUMMARY

District staff prepared a Request for Proposals for evaluation of various aspects of three proposed seawater desalination projects and submitted it to five engineering consulting firms in December 2005. The projects to be evaluated are the Coastal Water Project proposed by California American Water, the Monterey Bay Regional Desalination Project proposed by the Pajaro/Sunny Mesa Community Services District, and the 7.5 million-gallon-per-day project in Sand City most recently evaluated by MPWMD in 2003 and early 2004. Proposals were received from three firms: E2 Consulting Engineers Inc., Bookman Edmonston/GEI Consultants, and Raines, Melton & Carella Water and Environment, Inc.

RECOMMENDATION

The staff review committee (Oliver, Stern, and Bell) determined that the superior proposal was submitted by Bookman Edmonston/GEI Consultants (BE/GEI), and recommends that following Board approval, the District should enter into an agreement with BE/GEI to perform the desired scope of work.

BACKGROUND

MPWMD received three proposals in response to the Request for Proposals sent out in December 2006. The firms and the corresponding estimated labor hours and estimated costs are as follows:

Total Other Total

Firm Labor Hours Labor Cost Direct Costs Estimated Cost

E2 Consulting Engineers 376 hours $48,400 $1,550 $49,950

Bookman-Edmonston/GEI 309 52,511 1,925 54,036

Raines, Melton & Carella 251 52,375 4,384 56,759

The staff review committee found that the proposal submitted by BE/GEI was the best written of the three, that it demonstrated an excellent understanding of the project and showed both the ability to perform the required tasks and independent thought regarding issues not addressed in the Request for Proposals and associated materials sent to them. The Raines, Melton & Carella (RMC) proposal was judged to be second, and the E2 Consulting Engineers’ proposal came in third.

In addition to having a competent proposal and a demonstrated ability to perform the work, staff believes that it is important for the selected consultant to be able to provide an independent evaluation of the three major desalination projects being proposed for the Monterey Peninsula and northern Monterey County areas. In that regard, the consultant should be both credible and impartial in regard to these three projects. Although the BE/GEI team has significant experience in water supply projects in California, including seawater desalination projects, they have done very little work in the Monterey Peninsula area. The review committee believes this may be an important positive factor in assuring that the work product is an independent, impartial analysis. In contrast, RMC has done a significant amount of work in the Monterey Bay area, including being the lead consultant for several major projects for the Monterey County Water Resources Agency and for the Plan B study directed by the California Public Utilities Commission. The project recommended by the Plan B study is the basis of Cal-Am’s Coastal Water Project.

In addition, comparing the total estimated work hours and costs of the BE/GEI and RMC proposals, shows that BE/GEI proposes more labor hours (309 hours versus 251 hours) for approximately $2,700 less in total contract cost. This may be characterized as being “more brain for the buck.”

Enclosures: Portions of each proposal showing project team, project understanding and study approach, and estimated costs of consulting services

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