Title
[Contract Amendment] Source Water Protection Regulatory Support Services Fiscal Years (FY) 2026/27, 2027/28, and 2028/29
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FileID
File ID: 2026-00794
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Location
Location: Citywide
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Recommendation
Recommendation: Pass a Motion: 1) authorizing the City Manager or designee to execute Contract Amendment No. 2 to City Contract No. 2024-0951 Professional Services Agreement with Starr Consulting to continue providing consultation services for Fiscal Year (FY) 2026/27, FY2027/28, and FY2028/29 for source water protection regulatory support for an amount not to exceed $710,000, bringing the agreement’s total not-to-exceed amount to $1,165,000 and extend the agreement through June 17, 2029; and 2) resetting the City Manager’s or designee’s authority to issue contract amendments for the Agreement.
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Contact
Contact: Karen Newton, Project Manager, (916) 808-1449, knewton@cityofsacramento.org; Sherill Huun, Engineering & Water Resources Division Manager, (916) 808-1455, shuun@cityofsacramento.org; Dalia Fadl, Director, (916) 808-3765, dfadl@cityofsacramento.org; Department of Utilities
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Presenter
Presenter: None
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Attachments
Attachments:
1-Description/Analysis
2-Contract Amendment
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Description/Analysis
IssueDetail
Issue Detail: Staff recommends City Council approve a contract amendment with Starr Consulting to continue providing expert support on various subjects including several regional projects in partnership with other water utilities. The project goals are to protect the Lower American River and Sacramento River drinking water source quality for the City and its partners. The proposed contract amendment includes source water protection consultation services for expert support tracking special topics, collecting and evaluating data/information, preparing technical memoranda and reports, assisting in networking with and gathering information from other stakeholders in the watershed, preparing comment letters, and conducting meetings.
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PolicyConsiderations
Policy Considerations: City Council approval is required for contract amendments of $250,000 or more per City Code 3,04.020.
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EconomicImpacts
Economic Impacts: None.
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EnvironmentalConsiderations
Environmental Considerations: The proposed activity is not a project pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15378(b) (2 and 5). The activities described in this report include a Professional Services Agreement for consultant services that are continuing administrative activities that will not result in direct or indirect physical changes in the environment. This activity is not subject to CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15060(c)(3).
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Sustainability
Sustainability: Conducting the Lower American River and Sacramento River source water protection work is consistent with the City's 2040 General Plan Policies and Programs by supporting the policy to “continue ongoing Sacramento and American River source water protection efforts based on watershed sanitary survey recommendations, in partnership with private watershed organizations and local, State, and federal agencies.” (Goal ERC-1.2)
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Commission/Committee Action
Commission/Committee Action: Not applicable.
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RationaleforRecommendation
Rationale for Recommendation: On March 26, 2024, a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) (Q24141311031) was advertised and issued on PlanetBids for Source Water Protection Consultation Services for two subject areas: Subject Area 1 Sacramento River and Lower American River Source Water Protection Efforts and Subject Area 2 Pesticides Advisor. On April 18, 2024, one Statement of Qualifications (SOQ) was received for Subject Area 1 from Starr Consulting. Staff reviewed the SOQ and based on Starr Consulting’s knowledge, expertise, and experience; Starr Consulting was selected to provide the requested services.
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FinancialConsiderations
Financial Considerations: The proposed contract amendment is for an amount not to exceed $710,000, bringing the agreement’s total not-to-exceed amount to $1,165,000. The proposed contract amendment pertains to work that will be performed in relation to three distinct programs: the Sacramento River Source Water Protection program (I14520300), the American River Source Water Protection program (I14520400), and the Water Quality Incident Response Plan (Operating Budget 14001371). A portion of the source water program work will be shared with other participating water utilities according to cost-sharing Memorandums of Understanding (City Agreement No. 2022-0963 and City Agreement No. 2024-1288) for the American River and Sacramento River Source Water Protection Programs. These MOUs specify a not-to-exceed annual budgets of $30,000 for the American River per partner and $32,000 for the Sacramento River per partner. In addition, each fiscal year, the participating partners sign a letter agreement for the annual partner financial commitment which is based on the table below.
The following table summarizes source water protection projected costs for the City and cost share partners, as well as City-only costs for updates to the Water Quality Incident Response Plan:
|
|
FY2026/27 |
FY2027/28 |
FY2028/29 |
3-year Total |
|
Carmichael Water District |
$8,000 |
$8,770 |
$9,040 |
$25,810 |
|
City of Sacramento |
$168,300 |
$173,620 |
$178,430 |
$520,350 |
|
City of West Sacramento |
$12,300 |
$13,190 |
$13,540 |
$39,030 |
|
East Bay Municipal Utilities District |
$5,800 |
$6,510 |
$6,670 |
$18,980 |
|
Sacramento County Water Agency |
$22,300 |
$23,460 |
$24,110 |
$69,870 |
|
Woodland-Davis Clean Water Agency |
$11,300 |
$12,170 |
$12,490 |
$35,960 |
|
Total |
$228,000 |
$237,720 |
$244,280 |
$710,000 |
There is sufficient funding in the Sacramento River Source Water Program (I14520300), the American River Source Water Program (I14520400) and the proposed FY2026/27 Department of Utilities (DOU) Operating Budget. The table below shows projected costs for each project and the proposed FY2026/27 operating budget.
|
Project |
Fund |
Project / Operating |
FY2026/27 |
|
Sacramento River Source Water Protection Project |
6005 |
I14520300 |
$83,300 |
|
Sacramento River Source Water Protection Partner Reimbursable Portion |
6205 |
I14520300 |
$35,700 |
|
American River Source Water Protection Project |
6005 |
I14520400 |
$75,000 |
|
American River Source Water Protection Partner Reimbursable Portion |
6205 |
I14520400 |
$24,000 |
|
City's Water Quality Incident Response Plan Update |
6005 |
14001371 |
$10,000 |
|
Total |
|
|
$228,000 |
Funding for future fiscal years shall be subject to funding availability in the adopted budgets for the applicable fiscal year.
There are no General Funds allocated or planned for this project.
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LocalBusinessEnterprise
Local Business Enterprise (LBE): Starr Consulting is not an LBE, but has partnered with an LBE, Rincon Consultants, Inc., for this contract to meet the minimum LBE participation requirement. Rincon will provide environmental consulting services on various tasks.
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Background
Background: The City has three water sources for its municipal supply: the American River, the Sacramento River, and groundwater. The City partners with the following water utilities to implement proactive source water protection programs to help protect the quality of their Sacramento and Lower American River water supplies: City of West Sacramento, Sacramento County Water Agency, East Bay Municipal Utility District, Woodland-Davis Clean Water Agency, and Carmichael Water District. City staff manages these programs with participation from other water utilities on the Sacramento and Lower American Rivers. Through these programs, the water utilities are involved as stakeholders in the Sacramento River watershed on various issues related to source water quality. The programs also include conducting or supporting activities to reduce the risk of potential pollutants to the water supply. Expert support is utilized to conduct this work, and much of the work is cost-shared with the partner agencies. Partnering with other local water agencies for some of this work provides efficiency and a regional approach to protecting Lower American River and Sacramento River drinking water quality. Through this contract, the City manages follow-up activities to the American River and Sacramento River Watershed Sanitary Surveys and expert support for protection of the City’s American River and Sacramento River source water quality. The American River Watershed Sanitary Survey was completed in 2023 and the Sacramento River Watershed Sanitary Survey was completed in 2025. The Watershed Sanitary Surveys are required to be completed every 5 years and submitted to the State of California’s Division of Drinking Water. These source water protection program activities are based on recommendations that come from completed surveys.
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