R2024-111 Resolution Authorizing an Agreement with Ecosystem Services Exchange, for Services with the Regional Conservation Partnership Program

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ESE's Technical Services ESE's Conservation Planners and Professional Engineer strive to achieve optimal functionality,water quality improvement,and effective and efficient use of stakeholder dollars for each site under consideration for a conservation drainage practice. This experienced technical team adheres to NRCS's conservation practice standards to ensure the integrity and quality of practice installation. However,the team also does its best to go beyond the standard and consider the overall function,performance,and longevity of each practice it plans,designs,and helps to install to optimize environmental results,and crop production as appropriate to a specific practice. ESE will scrutinize each potential practice plan/design for optimized cost-effectiveness and functionality. For instance,a drainage water management system(automated or manual)needs to account for field slope,drainage volume,and other conditions,and a saturated buffer needs to be a certain length to be worthy of construction because of high contractor deployment and mobilization costs. Similarly,denitrifying bioreactors should be chosen where the design flow and nitrate load is high enough to justify the construction costs. ESE frequently combines multiple adjacent outlets into a single practice to increase the benefit-to- cost ratio.All designs will include the use of LiDAR and an assessment of soil suitability for the proposed practice. ESE will conduct remote site and feasibility assessments and make recommendations for the suitability of a drainage water management system(automated or manual),saturated buffers,and denitrifying bioreactors for each outlet identified by program participants and estimate the area of impact. ESE will communicate with participants regarding potential benefits,cost- effectiveness,and the overall functionality of each of the outlets in question. ESE will develop comprehensive designs,construction cost estimates,and construction plans for each practice/site/outlet. ESE ensures that NRCS conservation practice standards are adhered to. The following products will be combined in a single package upon completion. • Plans and specification for selected conservation drainage practices in accordances with Illinois NRCS conservation practice standards(CPSs)for 554,587,604,and 605. • Operation and Maintenance Plan for the selected conservation drainage practices in accordance with Illinois NRCS CPSs 554,587,604,and 605. • Engineer's estimate of probable construction costs for the selected conservation drainage practices. • Documentation/certifications required for floodplain permitting. • Checkout sheet for as-built documentation. ESE is committed to achieving all of the applicable project schedule dates for its deliverables,and to ensuring its timely and thorough communication with the City of Decatur. ESE"s Scope of Work Under its anticipated agreement with the City of Decatur,ESE's role will be limited to the completion of conservation drainage practice designs for the project-specified practices. These designs will meet the requirements of the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service(NRCS) Design&Implementation Activity 164(DIA 164),"Improved Management of Drainage Water Design". A DIA 164 is used to support a farmer's use of a certified Technical Service Provider(TSP)for all aspects of site assessment through planning to final "shovel ready"design for the installation of manual and automated drainage water management,saturated buffers,and denitrifying bioreactors. An ESE-developed DIA 164 meets all NRCS requirements and enables a farmer to receive a payment from EQIP, RCPP,or another eligible conservation program for this completed plan/design. NRCS has estimated the full cost of the development of a DIA 164 for fields with existing tile maps and fields without existing the maps. The cost of developing a DIA 164 is the same for a manual or automated drainage water management system,a saturated buffer,or a denitrifying bioreactor. As producer's signup for participation in this RCPP Project for the eligible conservation drainage practices,ESE will work with them to complete planning and design activities consistent with the NRCS DIA 164. ESE has been provided an estimate of 70 practices needing DIA 164s at the amount of 14 per year for each of five years. ESE estimates that 40 of these sites for the development of DIA 164s will have a tile map available to use in the design process,and 30 will have no file map available for use Page 4 of 11