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Fish Creek Critical Community Wildfire Watershed Protection Plan (CWP)2

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Fish Creek Critical Community Wildfire Watershed Protection Plan (CWP)2 We are the Response to Request for Proposal for Engineering Services Premier provider Fish Creek Critical Community Wildfire of Watershed Watershed PRotection Plan (CWP)2 Wildfire Hazard Assessments SUBMITTED TO SUBMITTED BY City of Steamboat Springs RESPEC 137 10th Street 720 South Colorado Blvd in North America Steramboat Springs, CO 80487 Suite 410 S Denver, CO 80246 July 19, 2018 RSI/P-4036 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 QUALIFICATIONS ............................................................................................................................................................. 1 Approach Overview ............................................................................................................................................................................................2 Office Locations .................................................................................................................................................................................................2 About RESPEC .....................................................................................................................................................................................................3 About Anchor Point ...........................................................................................................................................................................................3 Project Team .......................................................................................................................................................................................................4 Team Availability ................................................................................................................................................................................................6 Team Organization ............................................................................................................................................................................................6 Client References ...............................................................................................................................................................................................7 Project History.....................................................................................................................................................................................................8 2.0 COST PROPOSAL ......................................................................................................................................... Removed 3.0 REVISED PROJECT APPROACH ................................................................................................................................... R-1 Task 1. Establish Core Team ........................................................................................................................................................................R-1 Task 2. Stakeholder Engagement and Collaboration .............................................................................................................................R-2 Task 3. Gather and Evaluate Reports & Data .................................................................................... .......................................................R-4 Task 4. Conduct a Watershed Risk Assessment ......................................................................................................................................R-5 Task 5. Develop and Prioritize Action Steps ............................................................................................................................................R-11 Task 6. Final Report & Presentation(s) .....................................................................................................................................................R-16 4.0 SCHEDULE ...................................................................................................................................................................... 32 APPENDIX A. RÉSUMÉS RESPEC RSI/P-4036 Response to RFP for Fish Creek (CWP)2 Engineering Services // i 1.0 Qualifications The RESPEC and Anchor Point team consists of management and technical professionals with the breadth of talent needed to provide watershed management services related to pre- and postfire hydrology, management, and mitigation, including extensive work with fuel modeling and fire behavior analysis. Our team has the education, training, and experience to ensure that all of the project needs are met. Our team members have worked together on similar projects. These include two Municipal Watershed Wildfire Hazard Mitigation Assessments (MWWHMA) that were previously conducted for the City of Cheyenne and the City of Buffalo in Wyoming. Our team is also in the process of conducting a third MWWHMA for the City of Sheridan, Wyoming, and is updating a Critical Community Watershed Wildfire Protection Plan (CWP)2 for San Miguel County, New Mexico. Our cohesive team has collaborated effectively and efficiently, and we will provide the best service to the City of Steamboat Springs (City) and Mount Werner Water and Sanitation District (District). Past Teaming. Our Core Team members have Collaboration. Our team recently applied extensive previously and successfully worked together in Wyoming coordination and collaboration on very similar projects for and New Mexico. This team was specifically assembled the cities of Cheyenne and Buffalo in Wyoming. These based on our past working experiences. Our extensive projects were conducted on behalf of the municipality, fuels, fire behavior, and wildfire prevention expertise and administered by the state, and designed to be our understanding of pre- and postfire hydrology and implemented on federal land. We collaborated with water quality establish the foundation for success. Wyoming State Forestry and the US Forest Service, including Medicine Bow Routt National Forest. Defendable Fire Assessments. Anchor Point is Recommendations from the Cheyenne project are being the most experienced US company in conducting incorporated in the Medicine Bow Routt National Forest’s scientifically defendable wildfire hazard and risk Landscape Vegetation Analysis (LaVA) project. assessments, which form the foundation for decision Recommendations from the Cheyenne and Buffalo making. Their advanced fire behavior modeling methods projects have been incorporated into US Forest Service use local fuel, weather, and topography data to generate (USFS) planning and are in the late stages of the National predictions of fire behavior. Anchor Point interprets fire Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) permitting process. behavior modeling to identify areas that are susceptible to significant fire behavior in both intensity and duration. Project-Management Website. We understand This is critical when interpreting for watershed impacts. the need to engage stakeholders in the planning and recommendation process by responding to concerns and Postfire Hydrology. RESPEC has been involved in questions as they arise. Our proposed approach creates a postfire hydrologic assessment and mitigation efforts in dedicated project-management website, available to all Colorado watersheds for the past 15 years, including work parties to facilitate teamwork and streamline the planning in the Hayman Fire and Waldo Canyon Fire burn areas. We process. This web-based process will allow the entire have modeled hydrology and water quality, designed in- development team, including stakeholders, to participate channel solutions to mitigate sediment delivery, efficiently, outside of in-person meetings. developed watershed revegetation plans, established road closure protocols, and conducted public outreach. RESPEC RSI/P-4036 Response to RFP for Fish Creek (CWP)2 Engineering Services // 1 Approach Overview Our approach to accomplishing the scope of services for the Fish Creek Critical Community Wildfire Watershed Protection Plan (CWP)2 includes organizing, attending, and presenting at multiple meetings to gather information about previous, ongoing, and planned projects; analyzing fire risks by evaluating the fire behavior potential and fuels data; assessing the future burn probability by analyzing historic wildfire activity; determining the postfire hydrologic hazards to the City’s and District’s municipal water supply; recommending critical areas where site-specific fuels treatments should be implemented to limit the effects of wildfires on the City’s and District’s municipal water supply, and identifying postfire mitigation activities to be applied on the landscape and within water treatment facilities to minimize the water quality impacts if a wildfire occurs within the municipal watershed. For this project, the key team members will work together as a single integrated team to provide seamless service to the City and District. In addition to project management and oversight of all tasks, RESPEC staff will summarize the existing data and conduct a gap analysis; develop a Sampling and Analysis Plan (SAP) from baseline and postfire water quality data; perform the postfire hydrologic analysis to support the watershed risk assessment and project prioritization; and lead the postfire water quality hazard reduction strategy development, including identifying short- and long-term watershed stabilization, assessing water quality impacts, identifying emergency and water-supply treatment options,
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