DURANGO, COLO. - The Bureau of Reclamation recently awarded a contract for cultural resource work. The contract, valued up to $50 million, was awarded to Alpine Archaeological Consultants, Inc. of Montrose, Colo., Woods Canyon Archaeological Consultants, Inc. of Cortez, Colo., and Statistical Research, Inc. of Tucson, Ariz. This contract will allow the Western Colorado Area Office and Upper Colorado Region to obtain cultural resource-related services for various projects.
Services provided under this contract are expected to include identification, documentation and evaluation of cultural resources; archaeological testing and data recovery; Historic American Building Survey/Historic Architecture Engineering Record (HABS/HAER) documentation and evaluation; ethnohistorical and anthropological research; geographic information systems (GIS) development and support; geoarchaeological investigations; storm water pollution prevention and erosion mitigation for cultural resources; artifact analyses and curation preparation; technical reporting; public outreach; and staff support.
One of the projects being served by this contract will be the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project, a project Reclamation is constructing in northwest New Mexico that will bring a reliable potable water supply to communities in the eastern portion of the Navajo Nation, the southwest portion of the Jicarilla Apache Nation, and the City of Gallup, NM. The contract will also be used for cultural resource services on other Reclamation projects in northern New Mexico, western Colorado, and across the Upper Colorado Region.
“This important contract ensures that Reclamation will continue to meet our cultural resource compliance obligations while maintaining our ability to manage, develop, and protect water and related infrastructure." said Upper Colorado Regional Director Brent Rhees “Reclamation archaeologists will be able to draw on the additional expertise of private sector contractors in effectively managing and protecting resources that are of value to the American public."
The contractors will closely coordinate activities with the Western Colorado Area Office archeologists who will conduct field inspections and review all documents under this contract.
The contractors will begin working on individual task orders in April 2018. It is anticipated that project specific cultural resource work will be awarded under this contract through 2023.
Source: Bureau of Reclamation
