CRMS Coastwide Data Collection Request for Proposal and SWAMP Water Quality Monitoring Request for Proposal Coming Soon

*** Coming Soon *** CRMS Coastwide Data Collection Request for Proposal and SWAMP Water Quality Monitoring Request for Proposal In the coming few months, CPRA will release two Request for Proposals (RFP). One will be for the Coastwide Reference Monitoring System (CRMS) and the other will be for the System Wide Assessment and Monitoring Program (SWAMP) Water Quality monitoring program. The CRMS RFP previously included water quality data collection services. Moving forward, the water quality data collection services, processing, and delivery will be procured through the new SWAMP RFP. The recurring CRMS RFP will be advertised for the sixth round since its inception in 2005. CRMS data collection will continue, as it has since 2005, with a comprehensive suite of vegetation, hydrology, and soils variables being collected from 389 sites coastwide. In addition to the separation of SWAMP Water Quality from CRMS data collection, notable changes to the upcoming CRMS RFP and contract include the

elimination of the Fall Elevation Change and Vertical Accretion monitoring effort, a new January 1st start date for the Spring Elevation Change and Vertical Accretion monitoring effort, and longer deployment times for CRMS hydrology monitoring equipment (60-75 days instead of 30-60 days). For more information about CRMS, see the CRMS website and current Standard Operating Procedures Manual. The new SWAMP RFP will include requirements for collecting monthly grab samples and measurements from the water column at 120 stations across coastal Louisiana, processing grab samples in a laboratory identified by the contractor, and delivering water quality data to CPRA’s CIMS database (Figure 1). The SWAMP RFP will also require the Proposer to establish or retain a laboratory that has the capability to process water quality samples according to CPRA specifications. Such capabilities will include collecting water column measurements on site with a hand held meter and will include temperature (°C), specific conductivity (µS/cm), salinity (ppt) dissolved oxygen (DO, mg/L), and turbidity (FNU); filtering and analyzing grab samples for chlorophyll a, nutrients, and suspended solids at ranges and reporting limits specified in Table 1 below. For some nutrients, there is a requirement for reporting limits to be at a finer resolution than LDEQ data standards require so the Proposer will need to identify or establish a lab that can provide data at these resolutions. Both the data collection and the laboratory work will be included in the new RFP and contract. Methods that differ from those listed in Table 1 below will be considered only if they provide equivalent data. https://lacoast.gov/crms/ https://cims.coastal.la.gov/RecordDetail.aspx?Root=0&sid=21275 The upcoming RFP will contain additional details about the SWAMP program. Questions may be directed to CPRAcontracts@la.gov. Figure 1. Approximate locations of SWAMP Water Quality monitoring stations. Table 1. Current parameters for grab samples with laboratory analysis methods, acceptable ranges, and reporting limits. Parameter Analysis Method Acceptable Data Range Reporting Limit Chlorophyll a EPA 344 0.05 – 756 µg/L 0.05 Total Nitrogen (TN) SM 4500 P- J 0.028 – 23 mg/L 0.012 Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN) EPA 351.2 0.10 – 8 mg/L 0.005 Nitrate+Nitrite as N (NO3+NO2), filtered EPA 353.4 0.003 – 10 mg/L 0.003 Nitrate (NO3)as N, filtered EPA 353.4 0 – 10 mg/L (≤ NO3+NO2) 0 Nitrite (NO2) as N, filtered EPA 353.4 0 – 10 mg/L (≤ NO3+NO2) 0 Ammonium (NH4) as N, filtered EPA 350.1 0.003 – 7 mg/L 0.003 Total Phosphorous as P (TP) SM 4500 P- J 0.012 – 31 mg/L 0.012 Orthophosphate (PO4), filtered EPA 365.5 0.002 – 13 mg/L 0.002 Silica (SiO2), filtered EPA 366.0 0.002 – 13 mg/L 0.002 Total Suspended Solids (TSS) SM 2540 D 4.00 – 20,000 mg/L 4.00 Volatile Suspended Solids (VSS) SM 2540 E 4.00 - 20,000 mg/L (≤ TSS) 4.00 mailto:CPRAcontracts@la.gov