SR-01-13-2015-3DCity Council Meeting: January 13, 2015
Agenda Item: 3-1)
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Dean Kubani, Manager - Office of Sustainability and the Environment
Subject: Execute professional services agreements to perform climate change
assessments and shoreline change modeling
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a professional services
agreement with ESA, a California -based company, in an amount not to exceed
$180,000 for the assessment of impacts from climate change and storm water on
area coastlines over a two year period with future year funding contingent on Council
budget approval; and
2. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a professional services
agreement with TerraCosta, a California -based company, in an amount not to
exceed $55,000 forshoreline change modeling based of area coastlines over a two
year period with future year funding contingent on Council budget approval.
Executive Summary
The California Ocean Protection Council, through the Local Coastal Program Sea Level
Rise Adaptation Grant, has awarded the City of Santa Monica a $235,000 grant to do
coastal storm and sea level rise impact analysis to inform the City's climate
preparedness and adaptation planning process. This work would build on work already
completed in the City of Los Angeles to provide a comprehensive look at the impacts of
rising sea - levels in the Greater Los Angeles Metropolitan Region.
Under the terms of the grant, the City must use ESA and TerraCosta for the
assessment and modeling of impacts from climate change and storm water on area
coastlines. ESA and TerraCosta were selected following a competitive RFP process
conducted by the Ocean Protection Council. Therefore, staff recommends professional
services agreements with ESA for $180,000 and TerraCosta for $55,000 for a total
amount not to exceed $235,000 for a two -year period.
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Background
On February 26 2013, Council adopted the 15x15 Climate Action Plan to reduce
community greenhouse gas emissions 15 percent below 1990 levels by 2015. This
short -term, action - oriented plan identified fifteen measures that, when completed, will
achieve the community greenhouse gas emission reduction goal. The 15x15 Climate
Action Plan included a commitment to conduct a vulnerability assessment evaluating
potential threats to the public, environmental, and economic health of the city, and
develop a strategic adaptation plan to mitigate the potential negative effects of climate
change. The shoreline change model funded by the Local Coastal Program Sea Level
Rise Adaptation Grant would be the first step in this process.
On August 26 2014, Council authorized the acceptance of the grant awarded in the
amount of $235,000 from the California Ocean Protection Council for data collection
and analysis for sea level rise planning and capacity building in the Greater Los Angeles
Metropolitan Region.
In 2011, the University of Southern California (USC) Sea Grant Program led the
development of a sea level rise vulnerability study for the City of Los Angeles. One of
the primary findings from this study was the recognition that the beaches along the
coastline drive a $17 billion local tourism economy and serve as the first line of defense
against rising seas. Understanding how local beaches respond to accelerating sea level
rise and the associated coastal impacts from rising seas and more powerful storms is
critical for local municipalities tasked with protecting and managing resources, life,
property and economic interests along the coastline. In 2011, information on sea level
rise and coastal change impacts was unavailable and was identified by USC as a critical
knowledge gap. The coastal storm and sea level rise impact analysis funded by this
grant would address this information gap.
Discussion
As part of the California Ocean Protection Council's Local Coastal Program Sea Level
Rise Adaptation Grant program, Santa Monica received a $235,000 grant to fund the
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development of a shoreline change model for the Los Angeles County coastline, except
the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The grant is to be used to fund the
development of the shoreline change model that would assess the coastal impacts of
sea level rise and varying degrees of coastal storms. The high resolution, dynamic
model will incorporate storms, sea level rise and shoreline change and provide the City
of Santa Monica, and other coastal communities in the Greater Los Angeles
Metropolitan Region, with detailed information to inform the development of climate
preparedness and adaptation planning processes. The model would be developed by
ESA and TerraCosta to complete coastal modeling throughout the state.
As part of terms of the grant, this project will be managed by the City of Santa Monica
with guidance and close collaboration from 11 regional jurisdictions as well as support
organizations, including the USC Sea Grant Program, the Los Angeles Regional
Collaborative on Climate Action and Sustainability (LARC); the CA State Coastal
Conservancy; Heal the Bay; the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission (SMBRC);
and the US Geological Survey.
The project will also coincide with the development of the Coastal Storm Modeling
System (CoSMoS) for Southern California, developed by the US Geological Survey and
funded by the State Coastal Conservancy (SCC), and with a Los Angeles regional
capacity building initiative also funded by SCC.
Contractor /Consultant Selection
An exception to the competitive bidding process was based on Municipal Code 2.24.080
(d) in which "competition does not exist because only one vendor possesses the unique
ability or capability to meet the particular requirements of the solicitation." The contractors
for this project were selected based upon their expertise and experience in the subject
area. While there are many contractors working on sea level rise, there is a
concomitant level of confusion with respect to the variety of products, modeling
methods, analysis and outputs. USC Sea Grant's experience working on sea level rise
vulnerability assessment and adaptation with the City of Los Angeles (2011 -13) and
familiarity with this work in the state as well as in other geographies, led to the selection
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of ESA and Terra Costa as the primary contractors for the regional Los Angeles project.
Terra Costa worked with USC Sea Grant on the Los Angeles study; providing an
overview of the region's coastline, and an understanding of the most important aspects
of coastal change and future protection. ESA was selected based on their expertise
and experience with Southern California coastal change, and exceptional ability to
communicate with stakeholders and policy makers alike. In order to ensure continuity of
analysis and conform with the Southern California CoSMoS model the City must
contract with ESA and TerraCosta.
Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
The agreement to be awarded to ESA is for an amount not to exceed $180,000. The
agreement to be awarded to TerraCosta is for an amount not to exceed $55,000.
Funds in the amount of $235,000 are available in the FY 2014 -15 budget in division
226. The agreements will be charged to account 20226.522360. Budget authority for
subsequent budget years will be requested in each budget for Council approval. Future
funding is contingent upon Council approval and budget adoption.
Prepared by: Christopher Smith, Principal Administrative Analyst
Approved:
Dean Kubani
Sustainability Manager, Office of
Sustainability and the Environment
Forwarded to Council:
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Rod Gould
City Manager
Reference:
Agreement No. 10013 (CCS)
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Agreement No. 10014 (CCS)