Intent to Award Notice - USGS WATER SONDE

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Contract Opportunity

The USGS, Michigan Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit supporting the ecosystems Mission Area requests a YSI EXO3 water quality sonde and a ProDSS multiparameter water quality meter. The primary use of the EXO3 water quality sonde is to provide accurate fishery habitat data for studies of coldwater species in inland lakes. The ProDSS will be used to monitor the water quality of streams and rivers to support sampling of fish communities. The USGS mission essential functions, involve providing information that supports decision makers and resource managers in the preservation of life, health and safety of the American people, and related information delivery systems for global monitoring and reporting. The resources identified in this procurement support the Coop¿s effort to monitor and evaluate inland fisheries, fish ecology, and aquatic science on fish populations and communities in the state of Michigan, directly support the educational training of graduate research students, and the ability of the USGS to capture, process, monitor, report, and distribute scientific data in a timely manner.

The EXO3 and Pro DSS meet the Government¿s minimum needs as their equipment has the following unique characteristics:
¿ EXO3 are equipped with automated wipers to clean the sensor¿s surface, thereby maintaining data integrity over long deployments.
¿ EXO3 offers wet-mateable connectors that are corrosion resistant.
¿ EXO3 have smart sensors that allow them to be interchanged between sondes without recalibration.
¿ EXO3 have the ability to record data autonomously in the field for up to 90 days.
¿ EXO waterproof handheld display directly displays sonde data and allows field programming and calibration without additional devices
¿ ProDSS is a single cable design with lengths up to 100 meters.
¿ ProDSS uses 4 port cables featuring replaceable sensors, ability to use any 4 sensor parameters.
¿ Large memory in the handheld allowing for more than 100,000 data points
¿ KorDSS software and Bluetooth/ USB on-the-go connector to assist in data management.

USGS is aware of no other source that can provide the above. Therefore, it intends to make an award to vendor Fondriest Environmental, unless it is contacted by any who believes they can provide the same product. Vendors are invited to contact the Contract Specialist, Miranda Blankenship, via email at mblankenship@usgs.gov no later than 1:00PM EST, Friday, August 22, 2025, with a quotation.

Sole Source Justification States the Following Part:

Contracting Agency and Activity. The Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey, Michigan Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit supporting the ecosystems mission area.

Description of Supplies or Services: To continue ongoing research and proceed with additional research in diverse locations, USGS CRU requires the multiparameter EXO3 water quality sonde with probes to measure the dissolved oxygen, turbidity, conductivity, temperature, pH, and depth to provide important fishery habitat data. We also require the ProDSS multiparameter water quality meter to monitor temperature, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, conductivity, and pH of streams where fish community research is conducted.

Statutory Authority. The proposed action may be awarded on a sole source basis under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b) (1) ¿ only one source reasonably available.

Rationale Supporting Use of Citation in No. 5. The EXO3 and ProDSS meet the Government¿s minimum needs for measuring the dissolved oxygen, turbidity, conductivity, temperature, pH, and depth. Data collection technology will differ among companies¿ data collection devices. To protect the consistency of data over time, date must be collected using the same equipment each time. If a different manufacture was used, the data would be measured differently, which could cause inconsistencies in studies.

The EXO3 and Pro DSS meet the Government¿s minimum needs as their equipment has the following unique characteristics:
¿EXO3 are equipped with automated wipers to clean the sensor¿s surface, thereby maintaining data integrity over long deployments.
¿EXO3 offers wet-mateable connectors that are corrosion resistant.
¿EXO3 have smart sensors that allow them to be interchanged between sondes without recalibration.
¿EXO3 have the ability to record data autonomously in the field for up to 90 days.
¿ProDSS is a single cable design with lengths up to 100 meters.
¿ProDSS uses 4 port cables featuring replaceable sensors, ability to use any 4 sensor parameters.
¿Large memory in the handheld allowing for more than 100,000 data points
¿KorDSS software and USB on-the-go connector to assist in data management.

The Efforts to Identify Additional Sources Including the Market Research Conducted. Market research indicates that only YSI is the sole manufacturer that can supply the required equipment. Internet research was conducted to see if any resellers exist for this equipment. The manufacturer, Xylem (YSI), indicated that they have sole regional distributors for their products, and the single distributor for the Michigan region is Fondriest Environmental.

Actions to Overcome Barriers to Competition. All brands and vendor instrumentation, with the ability to provide consistently high-quality data for current and future studies will be considered. Future requirements for same/similar items will be competed to the maximum extent practical.

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