Laserfiche WebLink
10/5/2020 Item Coversheet <br /> 3. USDA Regional Conservation Partnership Program(RCPP)Planning and Negotiations—Provide partnership coordination <br /> and grant award negotiation consultation. <br /> 4. Advancement of Special Projects and Initiatives—Services for water quality improvement items that may or may not qualify <br /> for grant leveraging/funding opportunities. <br /> 5. Monitoring Program—Begin water quality and sediment monitoring in the Lake Decatur watershed and the lake itself. The <br /> agreement with the Illinois State Water Survey is part of this monitoring effort. <br /> 6. General Consulting—As needed during the next 12 months. <br /> The planning and implementation of a comprehensive plan for a large watershed the size of Lake Decatur's takes a significant <br /> amount of time and resources. There are numerous steps that must be completed in order to determine future actions,especially <br /> being awarded,or not being awarded,multiple watershed conservation funding grants,and when each grant's funding actually <br /> become available. This unpredictability makes it advisable to continue this project in phases with flexible tasks. As Phase 2 is <br /> being completed,a detailed Phase 3 scope of services and costs will be established for City Council consideration. The same is <br /> planned for Phase 4. It is anticipated that Council will act on Phase 3 around September 2021,and Phase 4 around September <br /> 2022. It may be that some phases can be combined as information is gathered and conclusions are drawn. <br /> Updated budgets and schedules for all five Phases are on page 8 of the attached Phase 2 Scope of Services. <br /> Sediment and Nutrient Monitoring <br /> A major component of the Plan,as noted in#5 above,is to monitor and analyze the watershed's water quality to determine if the <br /> Plan's activities effectively reduce the amount of sediment and nitrate nitrogen entering Lake Decatur. This will be an ongoing <br /> gauge on the effectiveness of the City's watershed efforts. <br /> The Illinois State Water Survey(Survey)is one of the State's premier water research institutions. Since at least 1993,the City has <br /> had numerous successful Lake Decatur watershed water quality monitoring and analysis projects performed by the Survey. <br /> The attached proposal will provide monitoring and analysis at three Lake Decatur watershed locations for one year as part of the <br /> Watershed Management Plan. A watershed map and the monitoring locations are on page 3 of the proposal. <br /> The Survey will conduct these major tasks: <br /> Collect hydrologic and stage/discharge data at the monitoring stations. <br /> Collect suspended sediment and nutrient samples at the monitoring stations. <br /> Collect turbidity,pH,and temperature at the monitoring stations. <br /> Hydrologic,suspended sediment,and nutrient data collected at the monitoring stations will be processed,computed, <br /> and compiled. Data will be maintained in a database at the Survey and provided quarterly to the City and Northwater <br /> Consulting. <br /> Typically the cost of these services would be approximately twice as much as the quoted$30,905. Fortunately,the Survey is <br /> already conducting some Lake Decatur watershed water quality work through a grant from the National Science Foundation which <br /> allows the Survey to offer their services to the City for this proposal at such a low cost. <br /> Since the Survey is a part of the University of Illinois,attached is a copy of the University's Letter of Intent to Establish a <br /> Subagreement for the Survey's work. <br /> It is anticipated that this will be the beginning of a long term watershed monitoring and analysis program with the Survey. It is <br /> also anticipated that the cost of this project will qualify as local cost share match for the soon to be submitted USDA Regional <br /> Conservation Partnership Program grant application so that the City's expenditures can be matched dollar for dollar for watershed <br /> improvement funds that the grant can provide. <br /> Comprehensive Council Review <br /> To enable the City Council to examine and evaluate all of the City's water system needs in a more comprehensive manner,early in <br /> 2021,City staff and our consulting ferns(Intera,CDM Smith,Northwater)plan to present the findings of the Lake Decatur <br /> Watershed Management Plan,the Additional Water Supplies Plan and the Water Utility Long Term Sustainability Plan. This <br /> approach will enable the City Council to comprehensively plan for the short,medium and long term needs of our entire water <br /> system,beginning in the early months of 2021. <br /> PRIOR COUNCIL ACTION: <br /> On February 24,2020,the City Council authorized a Professional Engineering Services Agreement with Northwater Consulting <br /> Inc.(Northwater)for Lake Decatur Watershed Management Plan,Phase 1. <br /> https://decatur.novusagenda.com/AgendaWeb/CoverSheet.aspx?ltemlD=3009 2/3 <br />