The Barton Springs-Edwards Aquifer Conservation District (District) is soliciting statements of interest and qualifications for assisting the District in submitting a grant application to the Texas Water Development Board’s (TWDB) Groundwater Research, Science, and Data Collection Grant for Fiscal Year 2026. The grant application will propose to create a local numerical groundwater model that can simulate water levels, springflow, pumping, and groundwater flow. The area of interest of the model is all of Hays County and portions of Southwestern Travis County. The model must be developed in MODFLOW 6 and be compatible with the existing TWDB Southern Trinity Groundwater Availability Model, per the stated requirements of the TWDB grant guidelines. The selected candidate will assist the District in developing and submitting the TWDB grant application. If the grant application is approved, the selected candidate will create the groundwater model outlined in the grant scope of work, utilizing grant funding and in coordination with District staff. The intent of this solicitation is to enter a contract for the task specified at a certain price with the selected party.
Interested parties are asked to submit a brief statement of interest, qualifications, and experience (SOQs), not to exceed ten pages, to the District by 5 p.m. February 2, 2026. The SOQs should include:
- A description of relevant project-based experience conducted by the offeror;
- Specification of the individual(s) who will most likely be performing the work along with a paragraph for each person summarizing their specific qualifications and experience; and
- Any other information that the party deems relevant to coordinating this review.
Generally, the District intends to follow the Texas Professional Services Procurement Act and District Purchasing Policy in soliciting, evaluating, and negotiating the services, without regard to whether these particular services are subject to that Act and Policy. On the basis of the information provided by the offerors under this solicitation, the District will evaluate and develop a short list of candidates; conduct interviews as necessary; then issue a request for proposals to the selected short list of candidates. Proposals received will be evaluated and the first-choice proposal candidate will be recommended to the District’s Board for next-step discussions and negotiation of mutually acceptable terms for the proposed contract with the best proposal, or if necessary, the next best proposal.
The District will contract with the successful offering individual, group, or company for work to begin no later than March 12, 2026. If the grant application is awarded by the TWDB, the final model project must be completed by May 31, 2028, according to the grant guidelines.
The SOQs can be sent to:
Barton Springs-Edwards Aquifer Conservation District
Attn: SOQ Solicitation
1124 Regal Row
Austin, TX 78748
Or digitally to: bseacd@bseacd.org (Subject: Groundwater Modeling Services SOQ)
Any questions about this solicitation should be submitted via email to bseacd@bseacd.org. The District in its sole discretion may choose to respond only to the questioning entity or to post such questions and responses to be available to all potential offerors via the District website: Barton Springs-Edwards Aquifer Conservation District (bseacd.org)
For a PDF version of this information, visit this link.