NACA seeking hydrologist for monitoring station
Posted on Monday, May 12, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/bcdr/News/61724/
BENTON COUNTY — The Northwest Arkansas Conservation Authority Board of Directors will soon be asked to allow many firms with a certified hydrologist who is not an engineer to apply to provide hydrology services for NACA, said John Sampier, NACA executive director.
The NACA Board of Directors will meet at 3 p. m. Thursday at the First Security Bank Annex, 100 W. Emma Ave. in Springdale, Sampier said.
“ What I’m asking the board to do is to classify hydrology as a professional service so we can go out for RFQs (requests for qualifications ), and any firm who has a hydrologist who’s not an engineer can submit to us. Now, if they don’t approve it, it simply means that the only ones that can respond to the RFQ are those firms who have a hydrologist-engineer, ” he said.
NACA is working to complete a wastewater treatment facility that will have the capacity to treat up to 4 million gallons per day when it opens in 2009. The facility will be on Snavely Road about two miles south of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport. Initial customers for the facility tentatively include the city of Bentonville and other cities.
The authority supports stream monitoring and analysis with a monitoring station on Osage Creek, which crosses the NACA property. But NACA’s contract with the University of Arkansas is set to expire next month, so the authority got a grant to continue the monitoring, putting up some matching funds and in-kind services for that purpose, and is looking for a firm to do the job, Sampier said Wednesday.
Government rules require NACA to seek statements of professional qualifications, and a recent change of rules allows NACA, by a two-thirds vote of the board, to add hydrology to its list of recognized professional services, he said.
“ It rules out having to take just the low-dollar bid for services for certain professions. … Rather than just the small list if the group says such-and-such is a professional service and they agree by two-thirds, then you can request qualifications rather than going out for bids, ” Sampier said. “ Those who monitor streams and analyze them are part of a profession called hydrology. If you’re an engineer-hydrologist, then you automatically fall under RFQ (a state-required request for qualifications ). But if you have a firm … that has a certified hydrologist who is not an engineer you could (after a two-thirds vote by the board ) put in your RFQ. ”