Intent to Sole Source: California Drought Early Warning Dashboard: A web-based tool to identify multi-sectoral drought hazard indicators and expected impacts in California

This is a notice of intent to award a sole-source contract to the University of California Davis, and is not a request for competitive proposals. The Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Acquisition and Grants Office (AGO), Western Acquisition Division (WAD), and Climate Program Office (CPO) has a requirement for California Drought Early Warning Dashboard: A web-based tool to identify multi-sectoral drought hazard indicators and expected impacts in California.

The contractor shall provide the necessary labor and resources to accomplish the following tasks: develop comprehensive statewide sector-specific drought hazard indicators, develop “real-time” estimations of drought impacts as a function of drought hazard indicators for different sectors, develop a demonstration web application for statewide multi-sectoral drought hazard indicators and expected impacts, use a collaborative process to develop these support decision tools, and analysis of scalability WAD intends to issue a sole source, Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) with Time-and-material for travel type contract.

The period of performance is 19 September 2025 through 18 September 2027 which consists of a single base period (no options). The award will be made using other than full and open competition procedures. Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements in accordance with FAR 13.501(a). This acquisition is conducted under the authority of FAR 13.501(a), sole source acquisitions for commercial items conducted using Simplified Acquisition Procedures (SAP).

Per FAR 13.501(a), acquisitions under SAP are exempt from the requirements of FAR Part 6; however, the rationale for this action is consistent with the exception described in FAR 6.302-3(a)(2)(ii), to establish or maintain an essential engineering, research, or development capability to be provided by an educational or other nonprofit institution or a federally funded research and development center.

The Government requires highly specialized analytical, computational, and experimental services in the field of water resources engineering which are uniquely available from University of California, Davis.

The university is internationally recognized for its expertise and leadership in this specialized area and its connection to drought, and maintains personnel (e.g., physical scientists, engineers, social scientists) at its Water Resources Engineering Group and Center for Watershed Sciences with rare qualifications, methodologies, and expertise critical to the success of this requirement.

The University of California, Davis is the sole source capable of providing the required services due to its strong foundation, proven expertise, and collaborative history with NOAA/NIDIS related to drought. Their deep knowledge of drought and related sciences is essential.

Their integral role in the California drought and water resources community is also critical for successful community engagement and establishing the tool within state drought decision-making and policy, as well as for potential scalability analysis to other Western U.S. states. This notice is not a request for competitive quotes or proposals and no solicitation will be issued.

However, firms that believe they can provide the items as described that fully meets the Government's requirements may submit substantiating documentation in writing to the identified point of contact within 7 days after publication of this notice. Such documentation will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct this procurement on a competitive basis. A determination by the Government not to conduct a competitive procurement, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government.