Test Valley Water Cycle Study

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Value

£40,000

Classifications

  • Environmental services
  • Geological and geophysical consultancy services
  • Agricultural, forestry, horticultural, aquacultural and apicultural services

Tags

  • tender

Submission Deadline

2 weeks from now

Published

4 hours ago

Description

Test Valley Borough Council is seeking the appointment of an appropriately qualified contractor to prepare a Water Cycle Study (WCS) to support the preparation of the emerging Test Valley Local Plan. This will form part of the evidence base and will inform polices and the infrastructure needed to support the delivery of sustainable future development.

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The successful contractor will be provided with access to the 2024 BIIGLE project and the annotated 2018 WTR seabed imagery to aid with identification. Please note that experience in the identification of deep-sea taxa is required to complete this contract. The bid submission should clearly state which of the following options are being bid for, please provide a quote for either option 1, 2 or 3: Option 1 Video analysis, please provide a quote for the cost and breakdown per video hour Option 2 Stills analysis, please provide a quote for the cost and breakdown of the number of stills Option 3 Video analysis and stills analysis, please provide a quote for complete analysis of all imagery (video and stills), breaking down the costs as per options 1 and 2. 3. Project Background JNCC and the Marine Directorate of the Scottish Government (MD) conducted a survey aboard MRV Scotia (0924S) in 2024 to gather evidence to monitor Wyville Thomson Ridge Special Area of Conservation (WTR) (Figure 1) and inform assessment of the extent and condition of the designated features of the site. A survey of WTR was conducted in 2017/18, but the 0924S survey will form the first monitoring point (T0) in the time series at WTR. WTR is located to the northwest of mainland Scotland at the northern end of the Rockall Trough, with the closest land approximately 77 km away at Rona, Scotland. The site has an area of 1,740 km2 and a depth range of 350 m to 1000 m. The designated features of WTR are listed in Table 1. Further information on WTR can be found at the JNCC site information centre https://jncc.gov.uk/our-work/wyville-thomson-ridge-mpa/. Table 1. Designated features of Wyville Thomson Ridge SAC. Feature Feature type 1170 Reefs Annex I Habitat Annex I Reef Reefs are formed by biogenic concretions or non-biogenic substrata, which arise from the seafloor and so are topographically distinct from their surroundings (European Commission 2013a). They are generally found in the subtidal zone but may extend in a broken transition into the intertidal zone. Annex I reefs include biogenic reefs, bedrock reefs and stony reefs. The UK has a greater range and extent of rocky reefs than biogenic reefs, and rocky reefs are extremely variable in their structure and in the communities they support (Brown et al. 1997). They range from vertical rock walls to horizontal ledges, sloping or flat bed rock, broken rock, boulder fields, and aggregations of cobbles. A variety of invertebrates can inhabit rocky reefs, including sponges, corals, and sea squirts, which attach to the rock surface. Mobile species, such as fish, lobsters and crustaceans, may also use rocky reefs for shelter. Both types of rocky reefs - bedrock reefs and stony reefs - are protected features within WTR. Bedrock reef Bedrock reef occurs where the bedrock that underlies surface sediments on the seafloor arises from the surrounding seabed, creating a habitat that is colonised by many different marine animals and plants. Bedrock is consolidated rock and can be composed of most rock types (granite, limestone, sandstone etc.). Stony reef Stony reef occurs where 10% or more of the seabed substratum are composed of particles greater than 64 mm across, i.e. cobbles and boulders (European Commission 2013a). The remaining supporting 'matrix' could be of smaller sized material. The reef may be consistent in its coverage or it may form patches with intervening areas of finer sediment. Epifaunal species dominate biological cover. Stony reef should be topographically distinct from the surrounding sea floor with a minimum area of 25 m2 (this also applies to the total area of a patchy reef) (Irving, 2009). 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Where bidders are aware of overlap with previous or ongoing work on biodiversity projections, this relationship should be explained with a description of how proposals build on rather than duplicate other work. GROUP 1: UK Biodiversity Indicators relating to species trends. 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Priority to include projections for at least one indicator from the following list Air pollution Area affected by acidification and area affected by excess nitrogen Invasive species Number of invasive non-native species established Changes in the extent of invasive non-native species Protected areas Changes in the extent and condition of Protected Areas Status of threatened habitats Conservation status of UK habitats of European importance 2) Develop, document, and pilot a re-usable modelling approach to project indicators under the chosen scenario(s), for a 20-30 year period There is no requirement to use a specific modelling approach. However, the methods (including code) must be clearly and transparently described in sufficient detail to enable re-use and external evaluation. Consideration should also be given to how the approach could be generalised to other indicators (see Task 3, below). 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Katy Reed

Published 4 days ago

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