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The United States International Boundary and Water Commission (USIBWC) is seeking companies for the project listed below.
Appraisal of Surface Water Rights within the Rio Grande Canalization Project in Southern New Mexico Solicitation Number: FY254201001
SYNOPSIS: The USIBWC issued the Record of Decision for the River Management Alternatives for the Rio Grande Canalization Project (ROD) in 2009. The ROD committed the agency to implement riparian habitat restoration and to develop an Environmental Water Transaction Program (EWTP) to provide water rights for restoration. The purpose of the EWTP is to acquire or lease surface water rights from willing sellers to support riparian habitat restoration sites in accordance with USIBWC's 2009 ROD. To facilitate this, the USIBWC has a requirement to obtain market value information of Elephant Butte Irrigation District-administered surface water rights for acquisition. USIBWC has identified several willing sellers interested in selling USIBWC their water rights to meet water rights acquisition requirements under USIBWC's 2009 Record of Decision and River Management Plan for Rio Grande Canalization Project. This will be to obtain fair market value to negotiate purchase price.
The USIBWC, together with cooperators, developed a framework to implement the EWTP allowing the USIBWC to acquire or lease water rights in the project area. The USIBWC subcontractors completed a Programmatic Appraisal of surface water rights within the Elephant Butte Irrigation District (EBID) in August 2014. In 2021, the USIBWC updated that 2014 Programmatic Appraisal. The ultimate end is to have the Contractor update the 2021 appraisal to assist USIBWC in future water rights acquisition.
This will be a request for proposal. The General Scope of this upcoming requirement is to provide all parts, labor, plan, equipment, material, supplies, supervision, management, transportation, and all other requirements to successfully perform all necessary tasks.
The Contractor will conduct a Programmatic Appraisal for surface water rights within the Elephant Butte Irrigation District in USIBWC’s Rio Grande Canalization Project in Dona Ana and Sierra Counties, New Mexico in accordance with federal requirements for real property. The appraisal will comply with the terms of this scope of work and the Appraisal Foundation’s Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP), the Appraisal Institute’s Standards of Professional Practice, and the 2016 Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions (UASFLA, a.k.a. the Yellow Book).
The three primary tasks include:
Task 1 – Project Administration
The Contractor shall:
1. Provide monthly progress reports, which should include description of work performed, pending issues or concerns, work to be performed during the next two-month period, and associated detailed financial progress reports with the amount billed by task and percent task complete.
2. Conduct a teleconference kick-off meeting and provide meeting notes for kickoff meeting.
3. Ensure appraiser meets qualifications.
4. Submit deliverables as specified in the Tasks.
5. Provide overall project management and work coordination. Duties include project tracking, schedule oversight and contract administration. The Contractor shall maintain in close coordination and communication with USIBWC COR throughout the period of performance.
Task 2 – Programmatic Appraisal
The Contractor shall conduct a Programmatic Appraisal of unidentified, unspecific surface-only water rights located within the Elephant Butte Irrigation District (EBID) within Doña Ana or Sierra County, New Mexico, as described in Attachment 1.
The appraiser must hold a valid State Certificate as a Certified General Appraiser for the jurisdiction in which the subject property is located and be in good standing with the licensing authority where the credential was issued. The appraiser must also be familiar with the USPAP and the UASFLA. Finally, the appraiser must have experience appraising water rights or water righted lands within New Mexico, preferably southern New Mexico within the counties of Doña Ana and Sierra.
Task 3 – Work with Review Appraiser
The Government will conduct an appraisal review pursuant to UASFLA Section 3. The Government may hire a separate contractor for the appraisal review. The Contractor under this Contract shall work with the appointed review appraiser as necessary and shall address all deficiencies, if any, brought up by the review appraiser. The review appraisal is anticipated to be completed within 4 weeks of receipt of the appraisal.
Responses to this announcement must be received no later than 3:00PM MDT July 21, 2025. Responses shall be emailed to [email protected]. Responses shall include the following:
1) Solicitation Number in the subject line of the email.
2) Company Name and Point of contact information to include name, e-mail, address, telephone, and fax numbers.
3) SAM Unique Entity ID (UEI) number.
4) Size of the business (small or large) and the socioeconomic status of the company (i.e. HUBZone, 8(a), etc.).
5) A written narrative of the contractor capability to provide the requirements listed above to include examples of similar work performed in the past.
6) Address specifically if your firm can meet the completion date based on the information given.
Phone calls will not be accepted. Contractors shall submit written questions to the Contracting Officer (CO) for official clarification and responses. All written questions and answers received prior to the cutoff date shall be added to this Source Sought as an amendment. All questions will be submitted by email to [email protected] will be considered. Please include FY254201001 Water Rights Appraisals in the subject line.
Questions received from Offerors after 3PM on July 8, 2025, may not be responded to.
Offer due date/local time: July 21, 2005; 3:00 pm MST.