Wensum Nature-based Solutions (NbS) Monitoring Trials Stage 1

The Environment Agency (EA) and Water Resource East (WRE) wish to commission a project for the siting and monitoring of nature-based solution (NbS) runoff attenuation features in the upper Wensum catchment in Norfolk. This is to enable the delivery of an NbS monitoring programme which aims to provide further evidence of the benefits of NbS measures and allow the ground truthing of the EA's NbS for water availability mapping and modelling conducted in 2022-2023 for the Wensum catchment.

Following an unsuccessful competitive tendering process during September / October 2023, we requested feedback from suppliers. In response to this feedback, we plan to divide the work into three separate stages:

Stage 1 - Landowner engagement and permissions

Stage 2 - Design and Installations

Stage 3 - Monitoring and equipment purchase

We plan to offer these three stages as separate competitive tenders to reduce the risk to suppliers and ensure that suppliers can bid for the work for which they have the appropriate skills and resources.

The Authorities plan to tender the 1st stage of the project, encompassing Landowner Engagement and Permissions with the following objectives:

1. Conduct landowner engagement to secure access to sites in the Wensum catchment previously identified as suitable for nature-based solutions.
2. Obtain necessary permissions and permits to enable features to be constructed and monitoring to be installed at these sites.

The Site Identification phase for runoff attenuation features, which involved identifying areas where runoff attenuation features can be installed across the Wensum catchment, representative of the rest of the glacial till areas, has been completed.

The potential bidder is expected to complete the following tasks:

1. Landowner engagement - Engage with short-listed landowners based on local experience of the best areas to target,
2. Permissions and permits for monitoring equipment - Provide support in obtaining permits to facilitate the installation of the monitoring equipment before the end of this fiscal year and the runoff attenuation features later in the project,
3. Lesson learned log and risk register - Collect data to ensure these logs are kept up to date.

We welcome anyone interested in Stage 1 of this project to email us before close of play on 17th December 2023. We will hold a supplier engagement event on 18th Dec (3:30 to 5pm) this will be an online event on MS Teams.

The supplier event agenda will be as follows:

1. 30mins Presentation
2. 60mins Q&A session

The session will be recorded, and the recording will be shared on request.

We will also be happy to answer any questions submitted by 20th December 2023, which we will do by email to all registered suppliers no later than 21th December2023.

Additional information including a draft specification for Stage 1 and details about subsequent Stages 2 and 3, will be provided on request.