This is a Sources Sought announcement for acquisition planning purposes and no formal solicitation for this requirement exists at this time. All businesses, regardless of size; capable of providing these services are invited to respond to this announcement and submit a capability statement for consideration.
Capability statements received will be reviewed to determine a firm's previous experience performing similar work. The capability statements will be reviewed and used to determine an appropriate procurement strategy, in particular whether a set-aside is warranted or an alternate procurement strategy. The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this notice or otherwise pay for information solicited.
The applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code 561210, Facilities Support Services, and the Small Business Size Standard of $47M.
Proposed Project:
THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS, QUOTATIONS OR BIDS. THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), Interior Region 8: Lower Colorado Basin (LCB), Yuma Area Office (YAO) has a requirement for Operation and Maintenance (O&M) support services for the Yuma Desalting Plant (YDP) and Water Quality Improvement Center (WQIC), for a five-year period. The ready reserve status ensures that the plant receives the required planned maintenance needed to maintain the plant in the event the plant converts to a fully operational mode.
The acquisition plan does not forecast an immediate need for full operational capacity of the plant during this contract period, but there is the option for a level of effort that will allow a short-term demonstration run for various percentages of capacity, e.g. 33%, 66% and 100%. The Contractor shall furnish day to day plant operations and maintenance for the Yuma Desalting Plant on a 24-hour basis. The services will take place in Yuma, Yuma County, Arizona.
The requirement has been set forth in a modular manner as a single award Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) type contract to provide Reclamation maximum flexibility in the performance of work associated with the routine O&M services at the Yuma Area Office (YAO), Water Quality Improvement Center (WQIC), and the Yuma Desalting Plant (YDP). IDIQ contracts allow the Government flexibility in ordering supplies or services after the requirements materialize. This flexibility is required due to the uncertainty associated with water quality treatment research and the YDP. While routine O&M services will always be necessary for the YAO, the level of O&M services for the WQIC and YDP is commensurate with the level of research that may be required to be performed. Research projects may vary from none to the maximum that the WQIC can physically perform. Likewise, the level of O&M services for the YDP may vary from none to full capacity operations and maintenance of the plant.
Scope:
Contractor shall furnish all the contract management, planning, supervision, administration, personnel, engineering support, materials, small chemicals, tools, equipment, supplies, transportation, facilities and anything else necessary for the operations and maintenance (O&M) services of the Yuma Desalting Plant (YDP), including the A-22 Waste Disposal Facility and Water Quality Improvement Center (WQIC) Research Facility and maintenance only of the Analytical Laboratory Services (ALS) and as described in Section C.1.2 (Background) and C.1.3 (General Description), on a 24 hour, 365 days per calendar year basis (366 days per leap year(s)), as provided in this section or as specified in the complete statement of work and this contract.
Yuma Desalting Plant:
The performance location of this contract is the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s (Reclamation) Yuma Desalting Plant (YDP), at the Yuma Area Office (YAO), located in Yuma, Arizona. The YDP is a 73-million gallon per day Reverse Osmosis (RO) desalting plant, constructed to satisfy water-quality/quantity requirements of the United States-Mexico Water Treaty of 1944, and subsequent International agreements. In accordance with the 1944 treaty between the United States and Mexico, the United States is obligated to deliver 1,500,000 acre feet of Colorado River water to Mexico each year.
The water is used in Mexico for irrigation in the Mexicali Valley. During the 1960s the quality of the water delivered to Mexico became very poor. A special commission on Colorado River quality was established in 1973. As a result, Minute No. 242 (Minute 242) of the International Boundary and Water Commission was adopted. The Minute 242 requires the United States ensure that the water arriving at Morelos Dam will have an average annual salinity of no more than 115 (+30) parts per million (p/m) over the average annual salinity of water arriving at Imperial Dam. The YDP was conceived by the United States as a permanent solution to meet the provisions of Minute 242. Construction of the YDP was authorized by Public Law 93320, Title I, signed June 24, 1974 (as amended by Public Law 96336). Construction began in 1975 and ended in 1992. Title II of the same act provides for salinity control projects elsewhere in the Colorado River Basin (which includes the Upper and Lower Basins). The purpose of the YDP is to save water for beneficial use while desalting sufficient drainage returns from the Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District in Arizona to maintain salinity levels at Morelos Dam on the Colorado River as specified by Minute 242. When construction of the YDP was completed in the 1990s, conditions on the Colorado River had changed. High flow conditions had improved the quality of the water arriving at Imperial Dam, and then delivered to Mexico. During these years of above-normal flows in the
Colorado River, drainage water was allowed to bypass the YDP and was not necessary to meet the water quality requirement of Minute 242. The result is the main desalting production facility is not currently in operation and is maintained in a “Maintenance Only Status” condition.
Water Quality Improvement Center:
Reclamation began investing resources in desalination research in 1952, conducting pioneering work in early membrane separation processes. At that time, use of membranes to purify water was an experimental process with apparently limited potential. Congress and Presidents from President Truman through President Nixon supported the development of alternative low-cost water purification methods through the Office of Saline Water (OSW), within the Department of the Interior (DOI). Reclamation supported OSW efforts from the beginning by providing engineering and planning expertise on OSW projects. The 1960s and 1970s saw continued population movement west, expanded investment in space and military technology, establishment of the United States environmental protection movement, passage of environmental protection and clean water legislation, and breakthroughs in membrane treatment technology. These breakthroughs led to the creation of a membrane separations market that spans the medical, health and beauty, food processing, semi-conductor, and water treatment industries. The membrane water treatment market includes such technology as electrodialysis, electrodialysis reversal, reverse osmosis, nano-filtration, ultrafiltration, and microfiltration. Reclamation currently supports water treatment research to:
(1) Find technology that Reclamation can use to accomplish its mission more effectively; and
(2) To lower the cost of water treatment so new technology is more accessible to the public.
Reclamation’s role in water treatment research is:
(1) To sponsor research by private firms and universities as authorized by the Water Desalination Research Act (PL 104-298) and Reclamation Waste Water and Ground Water Study and Facilities Act Title XVI (PL 102-575, amended in 96 by PL 104-266, and in 98 by PL 105-321), and by the Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986 (PL 99-502, amended by the Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act, PL 96-480);
(2) To conduct research in-house through various programs, among them the Reclamation Technical Service Centers Science and Technology Program managed from Denver, Colorado, and the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act research program managed from Yuma, Arizona; and
(3) To transfer the technology developed as a result of these research efforts to industry for broader use by the public, consistent with Reclamation’s mission.
(a) The WQIC was constructed as part of the YDP – the original building and systems were called the YDP Test Train. Congress foresaw that even small cost-reductions in the operation of the YDP could yield significant savings and authorized a plant-related research program through Public Law 93336.
(b) The YAO has built its desalting expertise through years of experience in operating desalting test facilities and the YDP. The YAO began studying desalting technologies in the 1970s at the Yuma Desalting Test Facility, where companies from all over the world came with water treatment and desalting technologies to be tested and evaluated. In the 1980s, YAO supervised the construction of the YDP production facility, which began operation in 1992 and operated until high river flows reduced the need for its desalted flows to Mexico. To test potential improvements to the YDP, the YAO expanded the Test Train and renamed it the Water Quality Improvement Center (WQIC). In 1997, Reclamation’s Commissioner Eluid Martinez announced the Grand Opening of the WQIC.
(c) In addition to testing potential improvements for the YDP, the WQIC expanded its scope to allow third party research partnerships and became the cornerstone in a new cooperative effort to connect water treatment research scientists with real world test facilities. At the 1997 WQIC Grand Opening, the National Water Research Institute designated the WQIC as the first “National Center for Water Treatment Technology.” The goal of the National Centers Program is to promote improved water-treatment processes through united research efforts by government, academia, and private industry. There are currently only six National Centers in the United States, and each center explores different water research focus areas.
(d) YAO’s vision of desalination to create new water supplies is based on many years of experience in building and operating the YDP and developing advanced water treatment and desalting technologies at its Yuma Desalting Test Facility and WQIC. Water treatment scientists and engineers appreciate that “real world” test facilities are necessary to obtain “real world” evaluation of technologies.
Interested firms must submit the following information:
1. Name and address of Firm
2. Phone number
3. Email Address
4. Unique Entity ID Number
5. Size classification based on NAICS size standard, socioeconomic classification (i.e. SDVOSB, Small Disadvantaged Business, ED/WOSB, HUBZone and/or 8(a))
6. Capability Statement (not to exceed 5 pages). A brief summary of capabilities to include demonstration of the firm's previous experience as a prime or subcontractor performing this type of service in the southwestern US. Previous procurements performed of similar size and complexity to include references with point of contact information. Firm shall provide the project title, location, and detailed description of the efforts and how it was similar, the project dollar value, contract award number, completion date, and the customer name, phone number and email address. In addition, you should include information on the key personnel who will work on this project and information regarding their qualifications.
All responses must be submitted via email no later than 1200 Noon Pacific Time, April 23, 2026. Email address:
[email protected]. Include the reference number 140R3026R0012 in the subject line. All questions concerning the sources sought announcement should be directed to Colleen Samuels by email at
[email protected]. No phone calls please.
When it is determined that a formal solicitation will be issued, the presolicitation notice will be posted on Contract Opportunities at sam.gov web site at http://sam.gov/.