Inyo County Evacuation Route Resilience Plan

The County of Inyo Department of Public Works ("County") is hereby soliciting proposals from qualified firms (Respondents) who can provide the County with the following service: To prepare an Evacuation Route Resilience Plan to improve safety for rural communities by making critical ingress/egress routes more resilient to present and future climate change impacts.

Submissions to this RFP are due on Monday, March 30, 2026 . Submission instructions, a detailed scope of work, terms and conditions, and the applicable contract can be found below.

The Inyo County Public Works Department in partnership with the Local Transportation Commission will hire a consultant to prepare an Evacuation Route Resilience Plan (ERRP) to improve safety for rural communities by making critical ingress/egress routes more resilient to present and future climate change impacts. Due to its size, rugged topography, and limited roadway network, Inyo County faces growing challenges from wildfire, flooding, debris flows, and rockfall that threaten critical evacuation routes. The EERP will assess vulnerabilities, prioritize improvements, and develop strategies to ensure safe, reliable access for residents, visitors, and first responders—supporting long-term community resilience and readiness for future state and federal funding opportunities.

Inyo County is extremely rural and under-resourced. With a total 2020 population of 19,016 (according to the US Census) and the second largest county in California by area, Inyo County has a population density of only 1.87 persons per square mile. This is compared to the state as a whole, at 251 persons per square mile. This has two consequences: 1) many communities have few options for ingress/egress routes, and 2) Inyo County possesses limited financial resources to react swiftly to the scale and magnitude of impacts of climate change on transportation infrastructure and rural communities during and after unprecedented precipitation and runoff events. To complicate matters, Inyo County roadways experience high volumes of tourist traffic. Death Valley National Park averages over a million visits per year and Inyo National Forest saw 2.3 million annual visits in 2016.

The ERRP will identify and assess climate change impact risks by systematically cataloging infrastructure condition and characteristics of evacuation routes in Inyo County through a lens of present and future changes to environmental conditions. The development of the ERRP will be fundamentally based on collaboration, partnerships, and stakeholder engagement during all phases of the project. The ERRP will glean from a wide range of stakeholders and the public with deep local knowledge, including multi-jurisdictional governmental stakeholders. At a minimum the following stakeholders will be engaged: federal land management agencies (Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service), state agencies (Caltrans, CalFire, CA Dept of Fish and Wildlife), Tribal Governments, Los Angeles Dept of Power and Water, Southern CA Edison, Eastern Sierra Transit Authority, City of Bishop, Inyo County Fire Safe Councils, the Whitebark Institute, and Inyo County agencies (Office of Emergency Services, Dept of Public Works). Adjacent counties may also be stakeholders as appropriate.

Inyo County is committed to involving under-resourced community members at all stages of this project in the following ways: 1) conduct an online survey, provided in English and Spanish, that is advertised in local news sources and through social media, and sent to organizations and community groups that specifically serve communities along evacuation routes; 2) develop an interactive mapping tool as part of the online survey to collect data on locations prone to flooding or closure; 3) facilitate in-person workshops or pop-up events in underserved communities throughout the County, enabling individuals without access to the online tool to provide feedback and ask questions; and 4) contact each Tribal Government to assess concerns or priorities specific to transportation infrastructure on Tribal land. Incorporating in-person outreach in planning efforts remains key in Inyo County communities.

Informed by stakeholders, specialists and the public, the ERRP will conduct a systemic analysis of evacuation routes to develop a Capital Improvement Plan for Climate Adaptation (CIPCA). The CIPCA will present specific actions to address these identified risk areas in the form of detailed project descriptions, implementation timelines, and conceptual designs (up to 30%) to advance projects closer to a shovel ready state. Thus, the ERRP will provide a concrete and actionable project list to strengthen the “weak links” in existing evacuation routes.

The ERRP will also directly support the update to the Safety Element of the Inyo County General Plan required by recent changes to California law. Currently the Inyo County 2017 Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan acts as the Public Safety Element (Appendix C). Combined, Assembly Bill 747 (2019), AB 1409 (2021), and Senate Bill 99 (2019) require a Safety Element update to include identification of residential developments and vulnerable communities with less than two evacuation routes, the capacity, safety, viability of evacuation routes and their locations under a range of emergency scenarios, and location of local community resilience centers. While the ERRP does not fulfill all update requirements, it advances the effort by creating a comprehensive database of identified evacuation routes for Inyo County communities. From this, the Safety Element update can identify communities that are vulnerable due to having less than two evacuation routes.

Inyo County is a land of magnificent natural diversity and unique splendor. Considered a "Frontier County,” Inyo is the 2nd largest in California. The 10,227 square miles which comprise the jurisdiction stretch the wide distance from the California/Nevada state line near Death Valley National Park all the way to the spine of the Sierra Nevada. The Owens Valley forms the main north-south corridor along the west side of the County with Highway 395 stretching alongside it. This region is known as the Payahuunadi, or the Land of the Flowing Water, and is home to the Paiute-Shoshone people. Today, a significant portion of the water utilized by the residents in the City of Los Angeles originates from Inyo County and the Owens Valley.

Conveniently located about four hours from the metropolises of Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Reno, the region is easily accessed via Highway 395 as well as through commercial flights into Bishop Airport. Despite the proximity to major cities, only about 19,000 people call Inyo County home on a year-round basis. Inyo County and the Eastern Sierra region offer a full spectrum of adventure as well as the opportunity to get away from it all. The striking landscape is truly unique. To the west, along the crest of the Sierra Nevada, Mount Whitney towers over the small community of Lone Pine. At 14,505 feet, it is recognized as the highest peak in the lower 48 states. Just a short distance away is Death Valley National Park, which, among other things, is home to Badwater—the lowest point in the U.S. at -282 feet below sea level. The White Mountains are home to the oldest known life forms in the world—the Great Basin Bristlecone Pines—and there are millions of acres of congressionally designated Wilderness, including protected critical habitat in various locations throughout the County, which is 98% public land.

The County is dotted with historic towns providing professional services and the equipment needed for excursions in this recreation mecca. Whether one is seeking out opportunities for hiking, skiing, climbing, biking, fishing, horse packing, hang gliding, photography, or just sightseeing, the experience will be world-class.

Inyo County was established on March 22, 1866—formed out of the territory of the unorganized Coso County, which had been created on April 4, 1864, from parts of Mono and Tulare counties. It acquired more territory from Mono County in 1870 and Kern County and San Bernardino County in 1872. Named for the "dwelling place of the great spirit" in the Mono language, Inyo County has been the historic homeland for thousands of years of the Mono Tribe, Coso people, Timbisha, and Kawaiisu Native Americans.

Inyo County has a rich indigenous history, as well as a legacy that also traces its roots to pioneering, mining, railroading, ranching, and farming. Much of this history is not only on display today in museums and cultural centers throughout the County, but in the culture, livelihoods, and family trees of those who call Inyo County home.