Title
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MEMORANDUM
TO: Lake County Watershed Protection District, Board of Directors
FROM: Scott De Leon, Public Works Director
DATE: September 10, 2019
SUBJECT: (Sitting as Lake County Watershed Protection District, Board of Directors) Approve the First Amendment to an Agreement with the Regents of the University of California in the amount of $110,670 for Sediment Sampling in Clear Lake, and authorize the Chair to sign.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
We request the Board of Supervisors, sitting as the Board of Directors of the Lake County Watershed Protection District (LCWPD), authorize the Chair of the Board to sign Amendment One to the Agreement with the Regents of the University of California for Clear Lake Limnological Analysis (See Attached Amendment).
Staff negotiated an agreement with staff at the Davis Environmental Science and Policy Department to analyze sediment cores from Clear Lake for phosphorus content in 2011. These analyses had been performed periodically since 1992. The attached amendment both extends these analyses for an additional year, until October 2020, but also adds an additional sample site to total FOUR (4) sites starting October 2018. The purpose of this additional site is to be able to identify nutrient impacts on Clear Lake from the aftermath of the Mendocino Complex Fire that occurred in July-August of 2018.
Considering laboratory fees, the added site, and new processing costs, the increase in this program has increased 64% since the original date of the contract. With these substantial increases, we have contacted other regional laboratories to identify competitors, however, these particular sediment analyses are not standard and cannot be negotiated in any alternative labs.
The value and importance of continued sediment sampling cannot be over stated. The internal nutrient loading that is occurring with phosphorus and nitrogen cycling through the sediments (winter) and water column (summer) appears to be the greatest source of nutrients to both green algae and cyanobacteria in Clear Lake. External phosphorus loading has been significantly reduced, however, the internal nutrient loading is continuing to support excessive growth of cyanobacteria. Understanding this nutrient cycling is necessary in order to develop measures to improve summer conditions in Clear Lake. This understanding is facilitated by possession of a substantial data set. The sediment nutrient dataset compliments the water quality dataset that has been collected by CDWR. Staff believes the data collected with the sediment sampling is critical to understanding Clear Lake’s cyanobacteria blooms and is useful in demonstrating compliance with the Clear Lake Nutrient TMDL.
We are currently partnering with UC Davis Environmental Science & Policy Lab and the Tahoe Environmental Research Center to both analyze sediment data that has been collected to identify trends, identify a more cost-effective sampling plan, and to identify potential future funding sources that can sustain this sampling program. Results of this analysis will be provided when completed and available.
This amendment revises the maximum number of samples to be analyzed, the total not-to-exceed service cost, and specifies the agreement termination date as October 31, 2020.
We are requesting that the Board of Supervisors, sitting as the Board of Directors of the Lake County Watershed Protection District, authorize the Chair of the Board of Directors to sign Amendment One to an Agreement with the Regents of the University of California for the Clear Lake Limnological Analysis.
FISCAL IMPACT: __ None _X_Budgeted __Non-Budgeted
Estimated Cost: $110,670.00
Amount Budgeted: $160,170.00
Additional Requested:
Annual Cost (if planned for future years):
FISCAL IMPACT (Narrative):
Being an amendment to a pre-existing contract and agreement, some of the total cost ($49,500.00) has already been paid out for the analysis services, and this amendment is simply reflecting the amount remaining. The total amount for the agreement also increased from the original agreement to account for an additional sampling site and routine increased lab and admin costs. The remaining amount left in this agreement is $110,670.00 with the total cost over the agreement period not to exceed $160,170.00. Additional grant funds sourced from UC Davis research from the Blue Ribbon Committee ($25,000 / year) are expected to offset some of the remaining costs.
STAFFING IMPACT (if applicable): None
Recommended Action
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Approve the First Amendment to an Agreement with the Regents of the University of California in the amount of $110,670 for Sediment Sampling in Clear Lake, and authorize the Chair to sign.
SD: Attachment