The Matagorda Ship Channel Improvement Project, was authorized in the Water Resources Development Act of 2020. The Final Environmental Impact Statement (2019) for the project requires preconstruction oyster surveys of the project area to finalize the mitigation requirements and the identification of mitigation locations(s) with suitable conditions and available surface area to offset the unavoidable impacts to oysters that would result from the project.
The primary objective of this project is to collect and provide information needed to finalize the mitigation plan for the project. Information is needed to quantify the project impacts and assess the suitability of mitigation locations for oyster reef propagation. The survey activities follow the protocols used by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and include the use of electronic equipment and bottom grabs/cores to characterize substrate composition followed by verification of hard bottom targets using divers or hydraulic patent tongs
Responses to this Request for Statements of Interest (RSOI) will be used to identify potential investigators for a project to be funded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Galveston District which provides professional and technical support for the environmental compliance requirements for the USACE Galveston District Civil Works Missions. Approximately $917,000.00 is expected to be available to support this project, depending on availability of funds.
Response Date: Nov. 5, 2021
Applicants must be a member of the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU): Gulf Coast (W9126G-12-2-0019); South Florida-Caribbean (W9126G-16-2-0002) ; Piedmont-South Atlantic Coast (W9126G-13-2-0011)