Instream Flow Technical Team Proposal

 

PROBLEM STATEMENT

The staff team of the initiating governments proposes that an Instream Flow Technical Team be formed. The purpose of the "tech team" is to facilitate the planning, coordination, and review of the water quality analyses outlined in the Draft Scope of Work (Section 3.1.4.7), and to facilitate coordination with the technical assessment described throughout Section 3 of the Draft Scope of Work. The specific tasks that the tech team will complete are as follows.

  • Review contractor proposals and qualifications, develop selection criteria and process, and recommend contractor to Planning Unit and Staff Team

  • Review the deliverables produced by the contractors for instream flow analyses.

  • Identify resources required for continued/future work to be completed as part of the instream flow analyses.

  • Monitor technical analyses and implementation of tasks done to complete analyses, provide assistance as needed.

  • Apprise Planning Unit and Initiating Governments about technical analyses underway and completed, as work proceeds.

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of forming an Instream Flow Tech Team are to:

  • provide timely communication between contracted consultants and staff, to minimize delays and ensure oversight of the technical work

  • coordinate scheduling of document or work product review, comment submission and incorporation of comments with contractors

  • make information available from the community and local governments to contractors

  • provide a central contact point for questions from staff working under contract and from members of the Caucuses and Staff Team

  • coordinate and facilitate data transfer to and from the central project database

  • review and summarize comments produced by the Staff Team and Planning Unit

regarding draft technical documents, to be submitted to contractors for

incorporation into updated documents.

WORK PRODUCTS

The Instream Flow Technical Team will produce and distribute information that facilitates the completion and availability of the technical work products produced by contractors and consultants. This information is envisioned to be in the form of:

  1. schedules for completion of technical work tasks, and comment submission produced and distributed by the technical team.

  2. budget for technical team work products and activities

  3. distribution of draft document releases, and associated schedule for comments to documents

  4. summarize significant information in draft documents for public distribution

  5. review, compile and summarize comments submitted regarding distributed documents for Planning Unit and Staff Team review, and for incorporation by contractors into final documents

  6. project information summaries distributed on a quarterly basis to the Staff Team, Planning Unit, and the general public.

  7. evaluate and facilitate changes to existing contracts with technical consultants.

The tasks to be accomplished by the tech team will include:

    • facilitation of and assistance with FY 2000 summer season field studies

    • facilitation of instream flow modeling, including gathering of information for input data sets, model calibration, model verification and sensitivity analyses.

SCHEDULE

3/22/2000 Planning Unit review of Instream Flow Technical Team Proposal for formation, comments solicited on proposal

4/7/2000 Comments on proposal due to Linda Sterling

4/12/2000 Initiating Government decision on formation of Tech Team

4/26/2000 Planning Unit decision on revised proposal for Tech Team formation

5/1/2000 Tech Team meets to review tasks for work to be completed on FY 2000 Instream Flow Analyses, meetings weekly thereafter

The schedule of work tasks and updates, and budget for the tech team will be proposed by the working technical team and approved by the Planning Unit and Initiating Governments.

PROGRESS REPORTS

Quarterly reports will be submitted to the Staff Team and Planning Unit in draft format, comments will be solicited for a 2-week period, and revisions incorporated within 1 week. A final report will be released to the public within 1 month of the review of the draft. Quarterly reports will include: summaries of data collected, data analysis, and modeling tasks; updates on schedule and budget of ongoing instream flow analysis work; changes to work plans or contracts originally approved; and coordination with other technical work conducted for Watershed Management and Habitat Restoration activities.

Proposals for resource acquisitions deemed necessary by the tech team to function effectively will be forwarded to the Staff Team weekly. In addition, recommendations regarding database policies and procedures, and instream flow data quality assurance measures will be reported by team participants weekly to the Staff Team and monthly to the Planning Unit.

STAFFING

Technical Teams will generally be composed of representatives from the Initiating Governments and the Planning Unit or their designees, and other "technical experts identified by the Planning Unit. Technical team members will commit to meeting weekly for up to 4 hours. Additional time commitments will be required for reviewing technical information produced by contractors, composing quarterly reports and updates, reviewing and responding to comments to technical documents, and communicating with Project Staff and contractors. Participation on the tech team will require familiarity with or training in instream flow study technologies or salmon habitat requirements.

BUDGET

Participation in the technical team at this time is voluntary or is being funded through the organizations that provide staff to the tech team. A budget for operations and communications, and the associated resource acquisitions will be developed by the technical team and submitted to the Staff Team, Planning Unit and Administrative Decision Makers.