PART 1 – GENERAL INFORMATION This is a non-personnel services contract to provide technical services for an eelgrass survey at and next to the Swinomish Federal Navigation Channel (“Swinomish Channel”) near La Conner, WA (Figure 1). The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) will not exercise any supervision or control over the contract service providers performing the services herein. Such contract service providers will be accountable solely to the Contractor who, in turn, is responsible to the USACE. 1.1 DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES / INTRODUCTION Provide all personnel, equipment, facilities, transportation, tools, materials, supervision, and other items and non-personal services necessary to perform the tasks for an eelgrass survey as defined in this Performance Work Statement (PWS). Perform to the standards in this contract. 1.2 BACKGROUND Congress authorized the Swinomish Channel in the Rivers and Harbors Acts of 1892 and 1935. The channel has an authorized depth of -12 ft Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW) and has three jetties at its southern entrance. Periodic dredging is required to maintain authorized depth. Maintenance dredging historically occurs every four to six years. The most recent maintenance dredging event was completed in January 2025. The USACE is planning to perform two (2) feet of advance maintenance dredging (AMD) (to -14 ft MLLW + 2 ft overdepth) in the channel during future dredging events. The deeper dredging cut associated with AMD is expected to disturb a larger project footprint, disturbing approximately four (4) additional feet of width on either side of the existing area impacted by dredging. Side-slopes are 2H:1V (horizontal: vertical). The USACE is also planning a major maintenance project to repair and modify the south entrance jetties. The Major Maintenance Project requires dredging a temporary access lane between the navigation channel and the McGlinn Island Jetty so that equipment and materials can be barged to the jetty. The project area is shown in Figure 6. This PWS outlines tasks for the Contractor to assess the extent and abundance of submerged aquatic vegetation, particularly eelgrass (Zostera marina), that may be impacted by advance maintenance dredging and the major maintenance project. 1.3 SITE DESCRIPTION The Swinomish Channel is an approximately 13-mile waterway connecting Skagit Bay and Padilla Bay in Skagit County, near La Conner, Washington (Figure 1). The channel features three jetties at its southern entrance: North Jetty, Goat Island Jetty, and the McGlinn Island Jetty. The authorized channel width is 100 feet with larger widths at turning basins and bends to facilitate safe vessel navigation, in accordance with Section 110 of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1958. Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5 show inset areas of the Swinomish Channel. The McGlinn Island Jetty access lane project area (Figure 6) is a shallow mudflat bisected by a natural channel approximately 600 ft in length between the east McGlinn Island Jetty …