RFQQ for Professional Consultant Services to Expand the Skagit Riparian Actions Database
Released March 10, 2023
The Skagit Conservation District (District) and Skagit Watershed Council (Council) are soliciting statements of qualifications and quotes from firms registered in the State of Washington to provide professional services in support of expanding and evolving the Skagit Riparian Actions Database and Dashboard. Statements will be evaluated based on the firm’s experience, qualifications, cost structure, and responsiveness to questions. Work will begin immediately upon selection of a contractor and negotiation of a scope of work, with major work to be completed by June 30, 2023.
The District was established in 1942 as the Skagit Soil Conservation District in response to the need to conserve farmland productivity across the country. The District has a reputation for putting conservation on the ground, meeting the current needs of our people, while planning for future generations. Programs reduce soil erosion, help dairies achieve nutrient management standards, enhance wildlife habitat, establish riparian zones, assist in shellfish protection, and educate local citizens about our watersheds. The District works with the Washington State Conservation Commission, the Farms Service Agency, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service to implement many of these programs.
The Council is a community partnership for salmon in the Skagit and Samish Watersheds. By means of collaboration, technical assistance, and education we seek to fulfill our mission to understand, protect, and restore the productivity of healthy ecosystems in order to support sustainable fisheries. The Council has 44 active member organizations and is governed by an elected Board of Directors.
The Council worked with riparian practitioners in 2016 to develop the first generation of the Skagit Riparian Actions Database as a way to document implementation of riparian restoration for the purposes of salmon recovery in WRIAs 3 and 4, with a focus on the Skagit Basin. It was one of many tools that helped create the 2017 Skagit Riparian Assessment (https://www.skagitwatershed.org/our-work/riparian/) which characterized these important habitats and estimated gains and losses by reach, buffer width, WRIA, and basin scales. The Council releases an annual summary report from this database as it is updated each year.
The District will be contracting with the selected firm(s) and funding this work via a Department of Ecology Centennial Clean Water Grant. The Council will be managing the contract. The Council’s Riparian Working Group will be refining the project’s development objectives (see below) and steering the contractors task orders to support technical components of the work.
The firms responding to this RFQQ shall provide a clear, concise statement that will outline their ability and experience in complying with the scope of services and information requests set forth herein. Please respond specifically to the following requests:
- Provide a description of your firm and its experience in providing professional services for database development and implementation in the field of natural resources. Specifically address your expertise in ArcGIS Online, geodatabase design, and security.
- List by name and title the staff proposed to support the District and Council and include their experience and qualifications. Identify each person’s proposed role.
- Briefly describe any attributes that distinguish your firm from others offering similar services that would prove helpful to the District and Council in our selection process.
- Provide firm’s Employer Identification Number (EIN), Unified Business identifier (UBI) Number and a description of the level and types of insurance carried, including the deductible amount. Please verify the firm has all other necessary licenses and permits to perform the work specified, including but not limited to valid driver’s licenses and Labor and Industries account.
- Provide a specific, proposed fee schedule for all staff and expenses on a time and materials basis. Briefly describe your proposed cost structure and how it provides highly qualified services in an efficient manner.
- Provide a list of three references with the type of support provided to them, including name, electronic mail addresses, and phone numbers.
Any qualified applicant is encouraged to apply. The response shall not exceed 20 pages and shall be submitted by electronic mail to Aundrea McBride at amcbride (@) skagitwatershed.org by noon on March 27, 2023. Please confirm receipt. Questions can be directed to the email address above. We anticipate notice of selection by March 31, 2023.
This RFQQ does not commit the District or Council to award any contract, to pay costs incurred in the preparation of any proposal, nor to procure or pay for any service. The District and Council will not disclose to any firm the basis upon which it makes its decision or any information regarding the content of a submittal of any other firm.
Skagit Riparian Actions Database and Dashboard Development Objectives
Draft March 9, 2023
The Skagit Watershed Council maintains a local database for riparian practitioners to track riparian actions in the Skagit basin to report progress to various audiences and track program effectiveness. We are at a point where that database needs to expand and evolve and are looking for a consultant with expertise in ArcGIS Online and geodatabase design and security to support the Riparian Working Group in completing the following tasks.
- Expand database access to new practitioner users while securing confidentiality.
- Invite and provide access to more riparian practitioners in the basin to ensure comprehensive reports, focusing on the Skagit Watershed while open to any practitioner’s geographic areas. Possible new users include the Skagit Conservation District, drainage districts, WDFW, municipalities, etc. This may include the option of providing data without geometry and location (separate tables or feature layers).
- Meet with practitioners to design database structures that will meet their needs.
- Coordinate Skagit Riparian Actions Database development with appropriate state agencies engaged in similar tasks (e.g. WA Conservation Commission, Puget Sound Partnership, WA Department of Fish and Wildlife, Ecology)
- Integrate new data structures into the existing database.
- Establish user permissions to limit access to only authorized data.
- Improve data entry processes for users.
- Establish/improve the AGOL user group that all practitioners can log into with appropriate sharing (limiting data entry and viewing by user or user group) and versioning.
- Improve the data entry form and tools (i.e., add snapping function to the edit tool, edit via the data table, and add a copy and paste polygon tool).
- Create/improve filters and data viewing options for database users.
- Set up a field mapping application (ESRI’s Field Maps) for the database so users can automatically update AGOL from the field.
- Train and support practitioners to enter data and to use the database.
- Finalize a user’s manual for data entry and reporting instructions.
- Review and revise database structure to improve tracking of invasive species control.
- Work with practitioners to design the method for tracking invasive species control.
- Improve invasive species data structure in the database to conform to improved design and better align with regional efforts.
- Create tools for reporting, both user reports and reports for a public-facing dashboard.
- Develop tools to summarize data for the dashboard for the whole watershed, by reach, and by year for 10-12 variables.
- Automate simple reports (table to Excel tool) with queries for users.
- Develop a public-facing map and summary dashboard, including appropriate landowner confidentiality.
- Create an interactive map with specific display properties that include:
- Base images and layers such as hydrology lines and polygons.
- Riparian action sites and attributes while limiting viewing access where confidentiality is required (e.g. zoomable to a limited scale, conglomerating data).
- Popups for data summaries by reach and basin.
- Other information requested such as temperature and flow monitoring stations and fish distributions.
- Include the option for downloading a PDF from the dashboard and map.