ITEM:		CONSENT CALENDAR
4.	CONSIDER APPROVAL OF TWO TEMPORARY FIELD STAFF POSITIONS TO BE FUNDED THROUGH A SECOND INTERAGENCY CONTRACT BETWEEN MPWMD AND NMFS TO PROVIDE FOR A COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND MONITORING PROJECT IN LOS PADRES RESERVOIR
Meeting Date:			October 15, 2018	Budgeted:	No
From:			David J. Stoldt,	Program/
			General Manager	Line Item No.:
Prepared By:			Kevan Urquhart	Cost Estimate:	Up to $40,000 (reimbursable)
General Counsel Approval: N/A
Committee Recommendation: The Administrative Committee reviewed this item on October 8, 2018 and recommended approval.
CEQA Compliance: This action does not constitute a project as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines Section 15378.

SUMMARY: In 2017, the District entered into an interagency contract with National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency’s (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service-Southwest Fisheries Science Center (NMFS-SWFSC) for the purposes of conducting juvenile steelhead population studies. As part of this ongoing three-year contract, for fiscal year 2017-2018, through fiscal year 2019-2020, MPWMD will recruit and provide local employees to fill up to three positions. These original positions will be filled at one of five levels, depending on increasing skill level, possession of specific certifiable skills in electrofishing, surgical fish tagging, and red-legged frog identification and avoidance. Field work will be conducted for three months from August through October for a total of 2,700 combined hours.

Due to the success of that contract, NOAA on behalf of the NMFS-SWFSC has requested that we provide another separate bid in a public competitive bidding process, to provide up to two field staff to run a 5’ screw trap for up to 17 weeks a year in the upper end of Los Padres Reservoir (LPR). These positions would be filled at one of the three lower levels identified in the prior contract, depending on the prior experience of the candidates with the fieldwork involving steelhead.

The contract is limited to approximately $40,000 per year. The funding for this contract comes from California American Water (Cal-Am) as a requirement of Water Rights Order 2016-0016. This field work will focus on evaluating juvenile steelhead survival through LPR, and the timing and relative production rate of smolts form the Carmel River Watershed above LPR. The data collected will guide future steelhead management by the NMFS and California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and will contribute information needed both in a) the future Water Allocations Supplemental Environmental Impact Report, envisioned for some time after 2020, and b) the interagency evaluations of whether to remove, dredge, or expand LPR.

Authorization is requested to hire a combination of limited-term Water Resources Assistants, Fisheries Aides, and Field Biology Assistants not to exceed the allocated contract amount for the year. 

RECOMMENDATION: The Board should approve two additional temporary field staff positions for cooperative research and monitoring projects with the NOAA/NMFS for fiscal year 2018-2019, and authorize the Administrative Services Manager/CFO to enter into a fully reimbursable contract for these positions. This is a fully reimbursed project so net financial impact to the District will be zero. This project was not part of the FY 2018-2019 Budget and so for tracking purposes, it will be included in the District’s mid-year budget amendment.

IMPACTS TO STAFF/RESOURCES: The total cost of the limited-term staffing described above would not exceed the interagency contract amount. MPWMD will provide the administrative overhead for onboarding, payroll administration, and direct supervision by the Senior Fisheries Biologist.

EXHIBIT

None

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