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SR 11-27-2018 3A City Council Report City Council Meeting: November 27, 2018 Agenda Item: 3.A 1 of 5 To: Mayor and City Council From: Susan Cline, Director, Public Works, Water Resources Subject: Award Agreement with Ramboll US Corporation for Charnock Groundwater Management Program Recommended Action Staff recommends that the City Council: 1. Award RFP #187 to Ramboll US Corporation (Ramboll), a Virginia-based company, to provide Charnock Well Field (Charnock) groundwater management program services for the Public Works Department; 2. Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a professional servic es agreement with Ramboll, in an amount not to exceed $1,825,000 over a five-year period, with future funding contingent on Council budget approval. Summary In supplying water to Santa Monica residents and businesses, Santa Monica’s municipal water utility division is also responsible for conducting the clean-up of polluted ground water supplies. The City’s Charnock Groundwater Management Program supports pollution remediation efforts and compliance with federal, state and local permitting, water quality and reporting requirements related to the City’s largest drinking water aquifer, the Charnock Well Field. Required contractor services include groundwater monitoring, sampling, modeling, preparation of a Closure Strategy document to achieve a No Further Action (NFA) status from the Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) for the aquifer, regulatory negotiations, and implementation of a monitoring well closure plan. Staff recommends Ramboll to provide these critical professional services for an amount not to exceed $1,825,000 over a five-year period. Discussion The Charnock Well Field is the City’s largest drinking water aquifer. Over the past five years, the aquifer produced between 7,500 to 8,400 acre-feet per year (AFY) of groundwater from five production wells. This represents approximately 80% of the City’s 2 of 5 groundwater production. Since December 2010, the City has operated the Charnock Treatment Unit located at 11375 Westminster Ave. in Los Angeles to restore the Charnock Well Field to full production. The purpose of the treatment system is to remove methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) and tertiary-butyl alcohol (TBA) from the groundwater prior to distribution. This provides the City with a reliable supply of clean drinking water and aids in the cleanup of the MTBE and TBA contamination in the Charnock aquifer. To monitor the subsurface contamination, the City oversees a groundwater monitoring network that comprises 52 regional monitoring wells. Water quality data obtained from the most recent groundwater monitoring activities have shown that concentrations of MTBE and TBA in the subsurface have declined significantly over time. Given the positive status of the restoration of the Charnock aquifer, the City commissioned a technical memorandum in February 2018 to determine the path to achieve a No Further Action (NFA) letter from the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) for the Charnock Well Field. The technical memorandum, prepared by Advisian, concluded that achieving NFA Closure would be feasible within five years at a cost of approximately $2,483,000. Since 2007, the City has conducted a voluntary regional groundwater monitoring program in the Charnock aquifer. The RWQCB is the lead groundwater regulatory agency that oversees enforcement within the region. In May 2018, the RWQCB approved a modified sampling program based on the positive status of the restoration of the Charnock aquifer. With the significant reduction in contaminant levels within the Charnock aquifer, the City plans to request approval from the RWQCB for closure of the Charnock monitoring programs which would result in a significant annual savings for the City. In order to achieve closure additional groundwater transport modeling would be required to document that the remaining MTBE and TBA mass present in the aquifer no longer poses a risk to the Charnock Well Field. The closure process would start with a letter from the City to the RWQCB outlining the closure strategy and the path to NFA for the Charnock Area Wide Investigation. This is anticipated to commence in 2019. The closure strategy letter and follow-up regulatory meetings and/or workshops would allow for any concerns or requirements from the RWQCB 3 of 5 to be identified and incorporated into the planning process. A formal request for closure would be submitted to the RWQCB once an additional year of data has been collected after the approval of the Closure Strategy Letter. The results of the groundwater modeling efforts would be incorporated into the formal request for closure letter. The estimated timeline for NFA closure remains at five years, but the cost has been reduced considerably. Most of the work that Ramboll would perform is groundwater well sampling, water quality analysis and regulatory reporting for the 52 groundwater wells. This includes five semi- annual, four annual and one single three-year monitoring event. The second largest task involves the abandonment and closure of 40 groundwater monitoring wells. Both of these large efforts require expertise that City staff does not have. 4 of 5 Consultant Selection RFP Data RFP Posting Date RFP Posted On RFP Advertised in (City Charter and Muni Code) # of Vendors Downloaded # of Submittals Received Date Proposals Received 08/27/2018 City’s Online Bidding Site Santa Monica Daily Press 84 6 10/08/2018 RFPs Received Selection Criteria Alisto Engineering Group Ninyo and Moore Municipal Code SMMC 2.24.073 Aquilogic, Inc. Project Navigator, Ltd Evaluation Criteria Experience/Technical Competence; Ability to Meet Work Plan/Timelines; Quality Control; Cost of Services and Cost Control; Stability/References; and Value Added/Breadth of Services. Keramida Ramboll US Corp. Justification to Award A selection panel of engineering staff from the Water Resources Division evaluated the proposals based on the following criteria: proposer’s previous experience with similar drinking water projects, groundwater modeling experience, quality and thoroughness of the proposer’s project plans and timelines, ability to meet regulatory timelines, experience of the proposer’s key personnel, the proposer’s references, and cost. The City’s original engineering cost estimate prepared in early 2018 was $2,483,000. Ramboll’s technical expertise was crucial to the recently approved monitoring program modifications resulting in significant cost savings for the City. Ramboll’s demonstrated extensive knowledge and experience with the Charnock Well Field, and its track record on similar projects with various agencies is unparalleled. Ramboll also demonstrated through past projects its ability to offer experienced engineers and field staff that can complete high quality environmental engineering reports in an expeditious manner and at competitive hourly rates. The City has the full confidence of the RWQCB in the Charnock Basin due to the superior level of engineering and reporting provided by Ramboll in the past. This is critical for NFA consideration. Based on these criteria and the criteria in SMMC 2.24.073, staff recommends Ramboll as the best qualified firm to provide groundwater management program services. Financial Impacts and Budget Actions 5 of 5 Staff seeks authority to award a professional services agreement with Ramboll for Charnock Groundwater Management Program services for a five-year period through December 31, 2023. This agreement would be funded by the Water Fund’s allocation of Charnock water pollution remediation settlement funds, and budget is available in the FY 2018-19 Public Works Department budget. Agreement Request Request Amount FY 2018-19 Budget Public Works Department Account # Total Contract Amount $500,000 50500001-552010 $1,825,000 Future year funding is contingent on Council budget approval. Prepared By: Lisette Gold, Environmental Remediation Coordinator Approved Forwarded to Council Attachments: A. Ramboll Oaks Initiative Disclosure Form REFERENCE: Agreement No. 10779 (CCS)