--- title: "Environment Agency: Hydroecology Modelling Tool (HEM) development to inform environmental assessment in water company drought planning." ocid: "ocds-b5fd17-17a591f4-8148-401a-bd5d-ca86297d492c" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-17a591f4-8148-401a-bd5d-ca86297d492c" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-17a591f4-8148-401a-bd5d-ca86297d492c.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-17a591f4-8148-401a-bd5d-ca86297d492c.json" source: "Contracts Finder" current_stage: "Tender" buyer: "D E F R A" published: "2019-10-25" --- # Environment Agency: Hydroecology Modelling Tool (HEM) development to inform environmental assessment in water company drought planning. Buyer: D E F R A Current stage: Tender OCID: ocds-b5fd17-17a591f4-8148-401a-bd5d-ca86297d492c [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-17a591f4-8148-401a-bd5d-ca86297d492c) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-17a591f4-8148-401a-bd5d-ca86297d492c.json) ## Summary The Environment Agency (DEFRA) is seeking to develop a Hydroecology Modelling Tool (HEM) aimed at enhancing environmental assessment for water companies in drought planning. This active tender is classified under data-processing services, and submissions must be sent by 17:00 on 18th November 2019. The expected contract period starts on 2nd December 2019 and runs until 31st March 2020. This procurement, conducted via an open procedure, focuses on addressing the challenges of environmental assessments related to drought management actions across the United Kingdom and overseas territories. This tender presents an opportunity for businesses specialising in data processing and environmental consultancy services, particularly those with expertise in hydroecology and modelling tools. Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) could be particularly well-suited to compete in this process, given the emphasis on innovation and the development of new functionalities within the proposed modelling tool. Aspiring contractors should be prepared to demonstrate their capabilities in developing user-friendly and efficient ecological assessment tools to assist water companies in their drought management strategies. ## Notice Water companies are required to monitor, assess and, where possible, mitigate for the environmental impact of their supply side drought management actions. This includes setting out environmental assessment, monitoring plans and mitigation measures as part of the drought planning process. However, in our role as statutory consultee and advisor to Government on water company drought plans (WCDPs) we have identified that completing environmental assessment to understand the impact of supply side drought management actions (including drought permits/orders) is a significant challenge for many water companies. Some of the key challenges include: limited time series of baseline environmental datasets to enable understanding of the environment under 'non-drought' and previous drought conditions; assessing the sensitivity of the environment to flow changes due to supply side drought management actions; predicting the likely effect on the environment of flow changes due to supply side drought management actions; ascribing a level of confidence/certainty. Developing improved hydroecological modelling tools is essential in helping water companies to address these challenges and thus improve environmental assessment in the drought planning process. This project will develop/refine an existing Environment Agency prototype tool (DRIED-UP - written in R code with a shiny app user interface) into a Hydroecological Modelling (HEM) tool for water companies to use to inform their environmental assessments in the next round of statutory drought plans. The key functionality that will be developed as part of this project is: 1) quantifying ecological (macro-invertebrate) sensitivity to flow alteration (due to supply side drought management actions); 2) understand uncertainty associated with the environmental assessment/modelling results; 3) allow predictions of ecological (macro-invertebrate) response to alternative flow alteration scenarios due to implementation of different supply side drought management actions. We expect that the development/refinement of this tool through this project will result in an improved functionality and usability through development of options/features and improved graphical displays. Delivery of this hydroecological modelling tool will help water companies improve their environmental assessments whilst also having the potential to allow them to use their results to better inform choices around their drought management options. Additional information: To apply please see the instructions in the attached RFQ (Request for Quotation) and associated documents. Email your response to jo.dennis@environment-agency.gov.uk. Tenders to be received no later than 17:00 hours on 18th November 2019. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Contracts Finder | | Latest notice | https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/0a39f2b3-068f-4a98-a480-7b79e6225ded | | Notice type | Tender Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Services | | Procurement method | Open | | Procurement method details | Open procedure (below threshold) | | Tender suitability | SME | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Tender | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 25 Oct 2019 | | Submission deadline | 18 Nov 2019 | | Future notice date | Not specified | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | 2 Dec 2019 - 31 Mar 2020 | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | Not specified | | Lots value | Not specified | | Awards value | Not specified | | Contracts value | Not specified | ## Status | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender status | Active | | Lots status | Not specified | | Awards status | Not specified | | Contracts status | Not specified | ## Buyer | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Main buyer | D E F R A | | Locality | SOLIHULL | | Post town | Birmingham | | Postcode | B91 1QT | | Country | England | | ITL 1 | TLG West Midlands (England) | | ITL 2 | TLG3 West Midlands | | ITL 3 | TLG32 Solihull | | Local authority | Solihull | | Electoral ward | St Alphege | | Westminster constituency | Solihull West and Shirley | | Delivery location | Not specified | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support - 73 - Research and development services and related consultancy services ### Codes - 72310000 - Data-processing services - 73200000 - Research and development consultancy services ## Release History - 25 Oct 2019 at 13:14 - Tender - Tender Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/0a39f2b3-068f-4a98-a480-7b79e6225ded ## Documents - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/0a39f2b3-068f-4a98-a480-7b79e6225ded 25th October 2019 - Opportunity notice on Contracts Finder - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/411d2042-e6de-49ac-a35a-382e16c76a1b Request for Quotation and scope - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/dfe4be88-6ff1-4b52-9941-997583885e29 Appendix C Terms of Contract - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/0d074e4b-fdd2-4ecc-9e6b-bd1d8ce3dfd7 Appendix D Project and tool background information ## Provenance This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. 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