Climate Change Vulnerability Analysis for Live Oak Canal and Gilsizer Slough Drainage Districts

The Development Services Department is seeking proposals from qualified consultants to conduct a vulnerability analysis of the existing crossings running under County-owned and maintained roadways for impacts due to climate change, along with the open channels to which they connect.

Sutter County recently completed an inventory of existing roadway crossings over water conveyances. [...] This project will conduct a vulnerability analysis of the existing crossings running under County-owned and maintained roadways for impacts due to climate change, along with the open channels to which they connect. The analysis will evaluate the drainage infrastructure’s ability to convey the anticipated flows predicted using the State’s latest climate prediction models. This project will also evaluate the structural stability and erosion potential of the infrastructure components when subjected to anticipated flows. The County will utilize the findings of this analysis to prioritize replacement of drainage infrastructure that cannot accommodate the impacts of climate change.

The responsibilities of the consultant include all necessary tasks to analyze the existing drainage systems, model the drainage systems to identify the impacts of climate change and perform public outreach to our community to advise them of the study and its benefits. A partial list of expected responsibilities is as follows:

• Project Administration, which includes a project kick-off meeting between the County and the consultant and coordinating regular meetings with the County's project manager to monitor progress on the required tasks.
• A roadway crossing and open channel condition survey that records the structural integrity of the drainage system components, including both open channels and pipes.
• Importing the information developed under Task #3 into the County’s GIS system.
• A Public Outreach effort to encourage public participation and ensure engagement of the communities throughout the drainage district areas. This public outreach effort involves the use of fliers, social media postings, public workshops, and presentations to the Sutter County - Board of Supervisors.
• Analysis of the hydraulic capacity of each existing drainage system component and an evaluation as to sufficiency to convey peak flows predicted under the State’s precipitation models.
• Preparation of a draft hydraulics report, an opportunity for the public to comment on the draft report, and the preparation of a Final Hydraulics Report incorporating comments submitted by the public.
• Review and acceptance of the final Vulnerability Analysis report by the Sutter County Board of Supervisors.
• The Climate Adaptation Grant includes the following schedule that the selected consultant will be required to satisfy: Perform Drainage System Condition Survey: Feb 2027 – July 2027; Import Information into County's GIS System: May 2027 – August 2027; Public Outreach: September 2027 – Nov. 2027; Analyze Drainage System Capacity: August 2027 – January 2028; Prepare Draft and Final Hydraulics Report: November 2027 – April 2028; Board Review / Acceptance: April 2028 – May 2028.

Please submit one (1) electronic copy of your proposal and optionally three (3) bound hard copies to our office no later than: **3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 24, 2026.**

Late submittals, submittals to the wrong location, or submittals with inadequate copies are considered non-responsive and will be rejected.

The consultant’s submittal is limited to a maximum of 20 pages not including the cover letter, sheet dividers, or items included in an Appendix.

The proposals will be reviewed and ranked based on the criteria listed below. Each criterion will be scored on a scale of 1 – 5 and multiplied by the Weight to determine a total score. All criteria scores will be combined into the consultant’s total score with the maximum possible score of 160.

• Project Understanding and Approach (Weight = 10)
• Scope of Work (Weight = 8)
• Consultant / Project Manager (Weight = 6)
• Demonstrated competence (Weight = 6)
• Client references (Weight = 2)

A cost proposal will not be submitted at this time. Once the County has identified a preferred consultant, a meeting will be scheduled where the scope of work will be discussed and finalized.