1. Water Quality Modeling MDEQ requires the use of water quality models to support various regulatory, planning, and assessment efforts. These models are essential tools for understanding and predicting the behavior of pollutants in surface waters, evaluating management scenarios, and supporting scientifically defensible decision-making. Modeling tasks may involve streams, rivers, watersheds, estuaries, and lakes, and address issues such as effluent impacts, stormwater runoff, nutrient loading, and use-attainability. Activities Offeror may perform under this Task may include, but are not limited to, the following: • Provide professional watershed and/or waterbody modeling to support MDEQ programmatic needs. MDEQ programmatic needs may include, but are not limited to, effluent guidelines; water quality criteria development or evaluation; evaluation of designated use attainability; analyses of wet-weather issues such as combined sewer overflows, storm sewers, or nonpoint source pollutant loadings from agricultural and urban lands; analyses of mixing zones; and analyses of complex Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs); • Provide professional modeling support for quick response TMDLs or National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit actions; • Provide technical support/recommendations to MDEQ on appropriate model(s) for use in given situations. Prepare descriptions of models, their uses, and limitations including complexity, data needs, sources of available data, and methods to generate data from field monitoring or other sources; • Provide training for MDEQ staff and other state personnel related to water quality modeling. Training needs will vary depending on the complexity of the models and related data needs; and • Perform other related tasks as directed by MDEQ. 2. Water Quality Monitoring, Sampling, and Laboratory Analyses MDEQ’s Field Services Division (FSD) collects surface water data and other environmental information from the state’s streams, rivers, lakes, estuaries, and coastal waters. This monitoring data is routinely collected statewide through several different monitoring programs, such as ambient monitoring networks, program support monitoring network, intensive surveys, and other special water quality studies. FSD also has a laboratory that conducts physical, chemical, bacteriological, and toxicological analyses of samples. The Water Quality Assessment Branch in the Surface Water Division then uses this surface water data to assess state waterbodies. Under this Task, activities include, but are not limited to, the following: • Perform all aspects of technical data gathering in the field and appropriate chemical and biological analysis work in the laboratory. Such work consists of surface water sampling involving the collection of water column, benthic, sediment, and/or biological samples and the collection of supporting hydraulic and meteorological data. Offeror shall follow appropriate Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) requirements, prepare Quality Assurance Project Plans (QAPP), and use approved Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) procedures and protocols; • Design water quality sampling programs for surveys that assess the environmental impacts of pollution in freshwater and/or marine-estuarine systems. This work may involve dry-weather or wet-weather (storm event) monitoring and may be of short-term (days, weeks) or long-term (months, years) duration; • Provide technical support to implement water quality sampling programs and surveys in support of MDEQ programs such as TMDL development, Nutrient Criteria Development, Waste Load Allocation development, Beach Monitoring, Statewide Ambient Monitoring, Watershed Assessment and Improvement, Water Quality Criteria Development, and Best Management Practice Evaluation; • Provide technical support to develop biological indices and biological community measures and to re-calibrate existing biological indices, such as the Mississippi Benthic Index of Stream Quality (MBISQ); • Conduct physical, chemical, bacteriological, toxicological, biological, and/or contaminants of emerging concern analyses of samples (water, tissue, and sediment) obtained during field studies of the environment. Biological analyses include bioassays, identification of benthic organisms and fish, and fish histopathological studies; • Calculate MBISQ scores and other metric results using previously defined equations and benthic organism data. Report the results of each MBISQ equation or metric and the overall MBISQ score for each stream in a timely manner; • Design, fabricate, and test specialized (often one-of-a kind) hardware needed during water and biota sampling and analysis tasks; and • Perform other related tasks as directed by MDEQ.
