RFQ 2025-06 WaterSMART Consultant

The Town of Paonia, Colorado, is seeking a consultant to assist in the development of a comprehensive Water Strategy under the Bureau of Reclamation’s WaterSMART Grant Agreement. The consultant will be responsible for conducting outreach and partnership building, technical analyses, and developing a Water Strategy document. The project aims to identify water supply challenges, assess infrastructure needs, and develop prioritized strategies for long-term water system resiliency. • Conducting outreach and partnership building to engage stakeholders, including agricultural users, community organizations, water districts, public land managers, and residents. • Completing technical analyses of Paonia’s watershed, raw water collection system, hydraulic capacity, water rights portfolio, and metering and monitoring needs. • Researching legal, regulatory, and institutional requirements for future implementation projects. • Developing and comparing project alternatives based on technical feasibility, financial impact, compliance needs, and community priorities. • Preparing a Water Strategy document that includes an outreach summary, statement of problems and needs, project alternatives and prioritization, implementation strategies, and lessons learned.