San Lorenzo River Levee Burrowing Rodent Mitigation - Phase 1 - Fumigation

The City of Santa Cruz Public Works Department is seeking contractors to implement a burrowing rodent management program on the San Lorenzo River Levees. This program is anticipated to be a multi-year effort to manage the burrowing rodent population and the impacts of burrows on the San Lorenzo River Levees. Burrowing rodents pose a threat to levee stability and management of the burrowing rodent population is required to prevent levee deterioration.

The burrowing rodent management program will be implemented in two phases. Phase 1 will consist of a licensed fumigator identifying burrows, flagging burrows, recording the number of burrows in each zone (Attachment B) and mitigating active burrows through carbon monoxide fumigation. The selected contractor shall use an RC 206ES Rodent Control compressor or equivalent, for this task. Fumigation shall be completed by a qualified pest control business with a valid California Department of Pesticide Regulations Pest Control Business License and registered with the County of Santa Cruz Agricultural Department. Additionally, the contractor shall have a Category M: Non-Soil Fumigation Qualified Applicator License (QAL). Phase 2 of this project is a separate solicitation (IFB PW-0227).

The City of Santa Cruz (City) was incorporated in 1866 and formed its current charter in 1948. It is governed under a Council/Manager form of government. A Mayor and six Council members set policy for the City and a City Manager serves as chief administrator of those policies. The City is located on the coast, 75 miles south of San Francisco on the northern edge of the Monterey Bay. It encompasses 15.8 square miles with cultural and ethnic diversity among its population of 65,000. Santa Cruz is part of the National Marine Sanctuary and is a popular tourist destination owing to its beaches, surf culture, and historical landmarks.

The City provides a full range of municipal services and facilities including a recreational wharf, public golf course, over thirteen hundred acres of open space, full beach services, refuse management, law enforcement, fire protection, and water and wastewater utilities. The City is also host to University of California Santa Cruz, the Santa Cruz Harbor, and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk amusement park.

The San Lorenzo River levees were constructed in 1959 as the main component of a large-scale cooperative flood control project between the City of Santa Cruz and the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The City is the levee maintaining agency and responsible for managing burrowing rodent populations on the flood control structure.