West Battle Lake Aquatic Vegetation, Point-Intercept Survey

Transcription

1 West Battle Lake Aquatic Vegetation, Point-Intercept Survey A PROPOSAL TO: West Battle Lake Association October 7, County Highway 6 Detroit Lakes, MN (218)

2 Table of Contents Section 1: Transmittal (Cover Letter)...2 Section 2: Project Team...3 Section 3: Qualifications and Experience...4 Section 4: Methodology...6 Section 5: Budget and Timeline...8 Section 6: Maps of Survey Area...10 Appendix A: References /07/2016 RMBEL, Inc. Page 1

3 RMB Environmental Laboratories, Inc County Highway 6 Detroit Lakes, MN Phone and Fax rmbel@rmbel.info October 7, 2016 Jerry Horgan, West Battle Lake Association Dear Jerry, Thank you for the opportunity to submit this proposal. We have enjoyed working with West Battle Lake on their water quality testing for the past 20 years. Please see the following pages for information including project team, methodology, qualifications and experience, schedule of costs, maps of survey areas, and references. Since 1995, RMB Environmental Laboratories, Inc. has successfully proven to be an industry leader in Minnesota. We are unique in that we offer both laboratory analytical services and client support services, including volunteer training, water quality data assessment, civic engagement outreach, biomonitoring, aquatic plant surveying, and zebra mussel veliger testing. We understand the scope of this project to include on-site point intercept vegetation survey in the littoral areas of West Battle Lake ( ) in mid-summer to document all native plants and identify any invasive plants. We would supply the raw data within a couple days of the survey, and the final report would be submitted within a month. We look forward to the opportunity to work with you on this plant survey project. If you have any questions about our proposal, please feel free to contact any one of us. The main contact for this project will be Emelia Hauck. Sincerely, RMBEL, INC. Moriya Rufer Emelia Hauck Director of Client Services Water Quality Specialist (mobile) (mobile) (office) (office) moriyar@rmbel.info emeliah@rmbel.info 10/07/2016 RMBEL, Inc. Page 2

4 Section 2: Project Team This project will be managed and implemented by Emelia Hauck, the Water Quality Specialist for RMBEL. Moriya Rufer, the Director of Client Services, will oversee the project and the final report, and the field assistant will be a field technician. Supervisor: Moriya Rufer Director of Client Services Project Manager Emelia Hauck Water Quality Specialist Field Support: Field Technician The following chart identifies specific duties and the staff member responsible for implementation Duty Project Preparation GIS mapping/uploading points to GPS Plant Identification/Data Collection Project Coordination Reporting/Creating figures/graphs Project Oversight Final Report Review Staff Member Emelia Hauck Emelia Hauck Emelia Hauck & Field Technician Emelia Hauck Emelia Hauck & Field Technician Moriya Rufer Moriya Rufer Management Plan Emelia Hauck, the project manager, will determine a time for the survey upon communication with West Battle Lake Association. When a Time has been determined, an RMBEL field technician will accompany Emelia to complete the survey on West Battle Lake. Upon arrival, field staff will be stationed in the area until all points have been sampled on West Battle Lake. After completion, raw data from the project will be entered into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and provided along with copies of the original datasheets within one week of project completion. The final report and map files will follow within a month and be reviewed by Moriya Rufer. 10/07/2016 RMBEL, Inc. Page 3

5 Section 3: Qualifications and Experience Overall Company Capabilities Since 1995, RMB Environmental Laboratories, Inc. has successfully proven to be an industry leader in Minnesota. We are unique in that we offer both laboratory analytical services and client support services, including volunteer training, water quality data assessment, civic engagement outreach, biomonitoring, aquatic plant surveying, and zebra mussel veliger testing. History Our laboratory was established in 1995 in Detroit Lakes, MN. We started with just an analytical laboratory, but our clients asked for additional services. We have added additional services upon our clients requests, and our Client Services Department has grown from one person to three people in the past six years. In addition, our company as a whole has grown in the past six years. Just this past summer we moved into our new laboratory and office facilities that are three times the size of our old building. Recent Projects and Related Experience Our Client Services Department has completed many projects for our clients. In the past 5 years, our staff: completed 30 aquatic plant surveys since 2009 completed 3 presentations/workshops on aquatic plant and invasive species identification completed 232 lake and lakeshed assessment reports for 15 counties and numerous lake summaries for lake associations is experienced in GIS lakeshed and landscape analysis as it applies to water quality train over 500 volunteers annually (2007-present) through the RMB Environmental Laboratories Lakes Monitoring Program implement our lakes monitoring program on over 700 lakes a year are certified in macroinvertebrate identification by the North American Benthological Society are the only ones in Minnesota besides the DNR and USGS that can identify zebra mussel veligers, and will be testing veligers on numerous lakes this summer have MPCA contracts for implementing civic engagement projects in four different watersheds in Minnesota have written over 20 MPCA and DNR grant applications for clients that have been funded Individual Staff Qualifications Moriya Rufer is the Director of Client Services at RMBEL. Moriya earned a Bachelor's Degree in Biology from the College of St. Benedict/St. John's University in Collegeville, MN and a Master of Science Degree in Aquatic Ecology with a focus on Lakes from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She has nine years experience working with lake projects including managing RMBEL s Volunteer Lakes Monitoring Program, training lake volunteers in sample collection techniques, educational public speaking to lake associations, macroinvertebrate identification, zebra mussel veliger identification, aquatic vegetation surveys and identification, and lake data assessment reports. 10/07/2016 RMBEL, Inc. Page 4

6 Emelia Hauck is the Water Quality Specialist at RMBEL. Emelia earned a Bachelor s Degree in Biology from the College of St. Benedict/St. John's University in Collegeville, MN. Before working at RMBEL, Emelia spent a summer as a DNR Aquatic Vegetation Survey Intern with Donna Perleberg (Brainerd). She has conducted point-intercept surveys on over 30 lakes in her career. Emelia will do the fieldwork, mapping, and report for the West Battle Lake aquatic vegetation surveys, and will be assisted in the field by a technician. Our office also has support staff to help with aspects of the project such as billing and expense tracking. Understanding the Project RMBEL and its employees involved with the project are familiar with the processes and challenges involved with conducting such projects. We understand the project goals and are dedicated to completing the project and providing quality data to assist you with your future plant management needs. 10/07/2016 RMBEL, Inc. Page 5

7 Section 4: Methodology The methods used for the project will follow our RMBEL Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for aquatic vegetation surveys and involve use of a point-intercept survey as described by Madsen (1999). GIS software will be used to create a grid of points overlaying depths 0-25 feet of West Battle Lake at predefined intervals consisting of 80, 100, and 120 meter intervals. Upon approval, the points at the specified interval will be uploaded into a hand-held Global Positioning System (GPS) and navigated to with a watercraft. Once on-site, an electronic depth finder or depth stick would be used to record depth in 1 foot increments and a double-sided, weighted garden rake would be used to collect vegetation (Figure 1). The rake would be deployed from a predefined side of the boat and be dragged across the bottom for approximately 9 feet in an effort to sample a 1 meter square area. Figure 1. Double-sided, weighted garden rake For each sampling location, vegetation sampled will be recorded to genus or species level and quantified by a number scheme 1, 2, 3, or 4 as follows: 1) = plants filling 1/3 of the rake head 2) = plants filling between 1/3 but 2/3 of the rake head 3) = plants filling > 2/3 of the rake head 4) = plants over the top of or covering the entire rake head Vegetation will be sampled at all points found to be located within the vegetated zone. We would continue sampling points until no vegetation was found. Therefore, we would be sampling one interval beyond the point at which vegetation was last found. Upon completion of the field work, reporting would be conducted at our office in Detroit Lakes, MN. Copies of the raw data collected in the field would be submitted to the West Battle Lake Association within one week of collection. The raw data would be in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and would 10/07/2016 RMBEL, Inc. Page 6

8 include point number, depth at site, plant species found, and a number (1-4) representing the abundance of each of the plant species recorded. The detailed final report would be submitted within one month of the survey. The final report would include the following information at a minimum: 1) Frequency of occurrence of each taxon found. This would be calculated from the number of points sampled. 2) Combined frequency of native submersed aquatic plants, all submersed aquatic plants, and all species found. 3) The number of submersed native and non-native species at each point, and the average number of all submersed species at each sample point calculated in Microsoft Excel. 4) The observed maximum depth of submersed plants. In addition, graphs and maps will be created to supplement data and provide a visual sense where needed. One color printed copy of the report will be supplied to the West Battle Lake Association, along with both pdf and Microsoft Word electronic versions of the report. All map files will be inserted into the report and also sent as image files to be used in public information and outreach materials. 10/07/2016 RMBEL, Inc. Page 7

9 Section 5: Schedule of Costs and Fees The project costs will be billed according to the fee schedule listed below Project Item and cost: 1. Invoicing for the project will be based on the number of points sampled. Each point sampled will be billed at a rate of $7.00 per point 2. Mileage associated with travel to and from the project location will be billed at a rate of $0.54 per mile 3. Field technicians (2 person team) travel time to and from the lake will be billed at an hourly rate of $ Technician time on the water is included in $7.00 per point charge. 4. Per diem includes lodging cost and meals for field specialist and technician. Schedule of Fees Item Rate Vegetation Sampling $7.00 per point Mileage $0.54 per mile Travel Hours (2 person team) $80.00 per hour The following is a price quote for the littoral zone of West Battle Lake ( ) and total cost shall not exceed the costs provided. There are three different pricing options dependent on the sample point spacing in the lake. West Battle Lake ( ) Price Quote* Option 1 (figure 2): Option 2 (figure 3): Option 3 (figure 4): Interval 120m 140m 160m # of Points Cost $6,587 $4,879 $3,766 Days to complete Travel Time 8hrs 6hrs 4hrs Cost $640 $480 $320 Mileage 392 miles 294 miles 196 miles Cost $ $ $ Total Cost $7, $5, $4, *Quote can be modified to only include areas of interest 10/07/2016 RMBEL, Inc. Page 8

10 Section 6: Maps of Survey Area The maps below represent point coverage for the littoral area of West Battle Lake ( ). Intervals associated with the maps are 120m, 140m, and 160m modified for better point coverage (from top to bottom). Portions of the waterbody >25 feet deep were excluded as vegetation will not be found in areas exceeding these depths. Figure 2. West Battle Lake with sample points spaced 120 meters apart. 10/07/2016 RMBEL, Inc. Page 9

11 Figure 3. West Battle Lake with sample points spaced 140 meters apart. 10/07/2016 RMBEL, Inc. Page 10

12 Figure 4. West Battle Lake with sample points spaced 160 meters apart. 10/07/2016 RMBEL, Inc. Page 11

13 Appendix A. References Contact Dale Heller Bluemont Lakes th Street South Suite 8B PO Box 9111 Fargo, ND Relation Provide laboratory services Completed an aquatic vegetation survey and report on three lakes in the summer of 2011 Denny Harder Big Swan Lake Association Dogwood Loop Grey Eagle, MN Provide laboratory services Completed an aquatic vegetation survey and report in the summer of /07/2016 RMBEL, Inc. Page 12