Merced County approves on-call vegetation management agreement to protect waterways

The Merced County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday authorized the Director of Public Works to award and execute an on-call vegetation management services agreement intended to maintain local waterways and support floodwater management. The action was announced at the board’s final meeting of the year by an unidentified staff member.

The county said it maintains roughly 265 bank miles of waterways under the Merced Streams Group Routine Maintenance Agreement with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and that vegetation removal and invasive-species control must be scheduled within limited state and federal environmental windows. To avoid repeated solicitations and ensure contractors are available when permits allow work to proceed, county staff issued an invitation to bid in October to prequalify firms for on-call work.

County materials listed the purpose as maintaining channel capacity and reducing flood risk through vegetation management and invasive species removal. The board’s action authorizes the Public Works director to finalize and sign the resulting on-call agreement; the transcript did not record a roll-call vote or the names of any motion mover or seconder.

Next steps include completing the contractor selection once permits are in hand and scheduling work within permitted seasonal windows. The board did not specify a contract dollar total in the meeting record.