WATER SUPPLY PLANNING COMMITTEE

ITEM:		ACTION ITEM
2.	Consider Development of Recommendation to the Board regarding the Los Padres Dam Alternatives Study
Meeting Date:			January 11, 2017
From:			Dave Stoldt,
			General Manager
Prepared By:			Larry Hampson

SUMMARY: The District and Cal-Am are working cooperatively to develop a comprehensive long-term management plan for Los Padres Dam and Reservoir. In addition, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) have a significant role in this effort by providing input and critical review of component studies.

Attached as Exhibit 2-A and Exhibit 2-B are proposals received from AECOM and MWH in response to the Request for Proposals for Los Padres Dam and Reservoir Alternatives and Sediment Management Study.

The proposed work focuses on three main alternatives: 1) management of existing and future sediment accumulation in the reservoir; 2) expansion of reservoir storage; and 3) dam removal. The work is related to efforts involving watershed and steelhead habitat modeling that the District will complete in 2017 and that will be used to inform analysis of the alternatives developed in the Los Padres Dam alternatives study.

RECOMMENDATION: The Committee should review the Proposals and consider whether to make a recommendation to the full Board about selection of one of the firms to carry out the proposal.

DISCUSSION:

Scope of Work: AECOM’s proposal included significantly more detail on the approach to the scope. This was true in every section except for the work to locate and obtain reservoir sediment samples, where the MWH proposal was more robust. AECOM’s proposal shows a clear understanding of the need to consider the water supply function of Los Padres Reservoir in a dam removal alternative and the proposal devotes a considerable amount of discussion to analyzing the impact to steelhead from potential changes in sediment load. There are some tasks in MWH’s proposal where it is not clear how the task would be accomplished.

Qualifications. AECOM’s team appears stronger overall and has relevant experience for this project both from previous and present work on the Carmel River and from other projects with similar issues around the State of California.

Project Management. It is noted that the AECOM team will include a Principal-in-Charge, Noel Wong, who served as Project Manager for the initial alternative evaluations for seismic mitigation at the San Clemente Dam. Interest in this project at a high level of management could assure a top quality product.

Cost. AECOM’s proposal at about $500,000 is almost 40% lower in cost than the MWH proposal at about $800,000.

Staff recommends selecting AECOM for this project.

EXHIBITS

2-A AECOM proposal

2-B MWH proposal

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