TERMS OF REFERENCE (TORs)

Consultancy Services for Flood Hazard, Soil Runoff and Erosion Assessment, Protective Asset Siting and Community Awareness District Lasbela

1. Background

A National level non-governmental organization (NGO) intends to engage a qualified and experienced consultancy firm/consultant to undertake a comprehensive Flood Hazard and Soil Runoff Study covering a single contiguous study area comprising four target villages located along the corridor affected by the 2022 floods.

The assignment is intended to generate reliable technical evidence on flood hazards, inundation patterns, soil runoff and erosion, exposure of communities and assets, and suitable locations for protective and water-related infrastructure.

The study will combine survey-grade elevation data, high-resolution satellite imagery, field observations and validation against the observed 2022 flood event. The results will support evidence-based planning, disaster risk reduction, climate resilience and appropriate siting of protective assets.

In addition to technical analysis and mapping, the consultancy will develop two animated awareness videos in simple local language to communicate key flood and soil runoff risks and recommended actions to communities.

2. Purpose of the Consultancy

The purpose of this consultancy is to conduct an integrated flood hazard and soil runoff/erosion assessment of the defined study area and provide technically sound recommendations for reducing flood and erosion risks to communities, homes, agricultural land and other critical assets.

The assignment will establish:

• Areas likely to be inundated under defined rainfall/flood conditions.

• The extent and depth of potential flooding.

• Homes, infrastructure, agricultural land and other assets exposed to flood hazards.

• Areas experiencing concentrated surface runoff.

• Locations vulnerable to soil erosion and soil loss.

• Priority areas requiring protective measures.

• Appropriate locations for protective and water-management assets.

• Practical information that can be communicated to communities in an accessible manner.

3. Objectives of the Assignment

The specific objectives are to:

1. Conduct a detailed flood hazard assessment for the four target villages and the surrounding flood corridor.

2. Develop reliable flood inundation and hazard maps using appropriate hydrological, hydraulic, GIS and remote-sensing techniques.

3. Assess the exposure of houses, population, infrastructure, agricultural land and other relevant assets to flood hazards.

4. Assess surface runoff patterns, soil loss and erosion-prone areas.

5. Identify areas where runoff and erosion are concentrated and determine their potential impacts.

6. Validate the technical findings through field observations and comparison with the observed 2022 flood event.

7. Identify priority locations for flood protection, drainage, water management and erosion-control interventions.

8. Provide technically justified recommendations for the siting of protective and water-related assets.

9. Prepare an accessible community-level communication package, including two animated awareness videos in simple local language.

10. Provide with a complete technical report, maps, spatial datasets and other relevant study outputs.

4. Scope of Work

The selected consultant/consultancy firm shall undertake, at minimum, the following activities.

i. Inception and Study Planning

The consultant shall:

• Review all available project documents, existing studies, maps and relevant secondary information

• Review information relating to the 2022 flood event

• Define and confirm the study boundary covering the four target villages and their flood corridor

• Develop a detailed methodology and work plan

• Identify required datasets, surveys and field investigations

• Agree on the proposed methodology with organization before commencement of detailed analysis

An Inception Report shall be submitted for review and approval.

ii. Topographic and Elevation Assessment

The consultant shall utilize appropriate survey-grade elevation information for the study area.

Activities may include:

• Review and processing of available topographic/elevation data

• Ground verification where required

• Identification of drainage paths, low-lying areas, natural channels and flow accumulation zones

• Preparation of an appropriate Digital Elevation Model

• Identification of critical elevation points affecting flood movement and runoff.

The consultant shall ensure that the elevation data used are of sufficient accuracy for the intended flood and runoff analysis.

iii. Satellite and Remote-Sensing Analysis

The consultant shall acquire and analyse suitable high-resolution satellite imagery and other relevant remote-sensing datasets covering the wider study area.

The analysis shall, where appropriate, identify:

• Land use and land cover

• Existing drainage channels and flow paths

• Agricultural areas

• Areas affected by erosion

• Changes associated with flood events

iv.  Flood Hazard and Inundation Assessment

The consultant shall conduct a flood hazard assessment using appropriate hydrological and/or hydraulic modelling techniques.

The assessment shall, as applicable, include:

• Analysis of relevant rainfall and hydrological information

• Identification of flood sources and flow paths

• Assessment of flood-prone areas

• Flood inundation modelling under defined rainfall/flood conditions

• Estimation of flood extent

• Estimation of flood depth and/or other relevant flood hazard parameters

• Identification of high-, medium- and low-risk areas, where appropriate

• Preparation of village-level and study-area flood hazard maps

The consultant shall clearly document the assumptions, datasets, modelling approach and limitations.

v. 2022 Flood Event Validation

The consultant shall validate the assessment against the observed 2022 flood event.

Validation may include:

• Review of historical satellite imagery

• Review of available flood records

• Field verification

• Community consultations and collection of local knowledge

• Comparison of modelled and observed flood extents

• Identification of discrepancies and refinement of the model where necessary.

The consultant shall clearly explain the validation methodology and results in the final report.

5. Flood Exposure Assessment

The consultant shall conduct a quantitative exposure assessment for the identified flood hazard areas.

The assessment should, where data are available, cover:

• Residential houses

• Population/households

• Roads and access routes

• Schools and health facilities

• Water supply infrastructure

• Agricultural land

• Livestock-related assets

• Public/community infrastructure

The consultant shall quantify the number and/or area of exposed assets and present the findings in an understandable format.

6. Soil Runoff and Erosion Assessment

The consultant shall undertake a detailed assessment of surface runoff, soil loss and erosion risk within the study area.

The assessment shall include, as appropriate:

• Identification of major runoff generation areas

• Mapping of surface drainage and runoff concentration

• Identification of erosion-prone locations

• Assessment of soil characteristics relevant to runoff and erosion

• Assessment of land use/land cover impacts

• Estimation and/or modelling of soil loss

• Identification of areas requiring erosion-control measures

• Preparation of soil runoff and erosion-risk maps

The consultant shall clearly describe the methodology, assumptions and datasets used for estimating soil loss and runoff.

7. Protective and Water Asset Siting Recommendations

Based on the flood, runoff and erosion assessments, the consultant shall identify and recommend suitable locations for protective and water-related assets.

Potential interventions may include, but are not limited to:

• Flood protection structures

• Drainage improvements

• Water diversion structures

• Retention/detention measures

• Erosion-control structures

• Embankments or protective barriers

For each priority location, the consultant shall provide:

• Location/coordinates

• Identified hazard or problem

• Technical justification

• Priority level

• Recommended type of intervention

• Preliminary considerations for implementation

The recommendations shall be based on the findings of the study and shall not be common.

8. Community Consultation and Field Validation

The consultant shall conduct appropriate field visits and consultations with relevant stakeholders and communities in the four target villages.

The purpose shall be to:

• Verify flood pathways and affected areas

• Document community observations regarding the 2022 flood

• Identify locations of recurring flooding and erosion

• Verify important community assets

• Collect relevant local knowledge

• Validate technical findings

• Support development of appropriate community awareness messages.

The consultant shall ensure that consultations are conducted in an inclusive and culturally appropriate manner.

9. Community Awareness Videos

The consultant shall develop two animated awareness videos based on the technical findings of the study.

The videos shall:

• Be designed for community-level understanding

• Use simple and clear local language

• Explain key flood and/or runoff risks

• Communicate practical preparedness and risk-reduction measures

• Incorporate appropriate visual animation

• Be understandable to audiences with limited technical knowledge

The consultant shall coordinate with service seeker organization regarding the language, script, key messages and final content before production.

Final videos shall be provided in commonly usable digital formats.

10. Key Deliverables

The selected consultant shall produce the following deliverables:

11. Final Technical Report

The final report shall, at minimum, contain:

1. Executive Summary

2. Introduction and Background

3. Study Area Description

4. Objectives and Scope

5. Methodology

6. Data Sources and Data Quality

7. Topographic/Elevation Assessment

8. Flood Hazard Assessment

9. Flood Inundation Results

10. 2022 Flood Validation

11. Flood Exposure Assessment

12. Soil Runoff Assessment

13. Soil Loss and Erosion Assessment

14. Priority Risk Areas

15. Protective and Water Asset Siting Recommendations

16. Community Consultation Findings

17. Conclusions

18. Recommendations

19. Limitations and Assumptions

12. GIS Maps and Data Package

The consultant shall provide all relevant spatial outputs in editable GIS formats.

The final data package should include, as applicable:

• Flood hazard maps

• Flood inundation extent maps

• Flood depth maps

• Exposure maps

• Runoff maps

• Soil loss/erosion maps

• Land use/land cover maps

• Asset location maps

• Recommended intervention locations

• Digital Elevation Model and relevant derivatives

• GIS layers and attribute tables

• Coordinates of recommended sites

All GIS data shall be provided in commonly usable/editable formats and with appropriate metadata

13. Duration of Assignment

The total duration of the consultancy shall be sixteen (16) weeks from the date of contract signing.

The consultant shall submit a detailed work plan showing the proposed schedule for fieldwork, data processing, modelling, analysis, consultation, reporting and production of awareness materials.

14. Required Qualifications and Experience

The assignment shall be undertaken by a qualified consultancy firm or suitably qualified multidisciplinary team with demonstrated experience in flood risk assessment, hydrological/hydraulic modelling, GIS and soil erosion/runoff assessment.

The firm/team should have:

• Relevant academic qualifications in hydrology, hydraulic engineering, water resources engineering, civil engineering, environmental sciences, geospatial sciences, geography, soil science or related disciplines;

• Demonstrated experience in flood hazard and inundation assessment;

• Experience in GIS and remote sensing

• Experience in hydrological/hydraulic modelling

• Experience in soil erosion and runoff assessment

• Experience in field surveys and ground validation

• Experience in developing technical maps and spatial databases

• Experience in climate/disaster risk reduction or resilience-related assignments is desirable

• Experience in preparing community-level communication/awareness materials is desirable.

15. Indicative Key Personnel

The proposed team should include, as appropriate:

Team Leader / Flood Risk Specialist

• Relevant Master's degree or equivalent qualification

• Minimum 8 years of relevant professional experience

• Demonstrated experience in flood risk/hazard assessment and modelling

• Experience managing multidisciplinary assignments.

Hydrologist/Hydraulic Modelling Specialist

• Relevant degree in hydrology, hydraulic engineering, water resources engineering or related field;

• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience;

• Demonstrated experience with hydrological/hydraulic modelling.

GIS & Remote Sensing Specialist

• Relevant degree in GIS, remote sensing, geography, geomatics or related field

• Relevant experience

• Demonstrated experience in spatial analysis, remote sensing and preparation of GIS datasets/maps.

Soil/Erosion Specialist

• Relevant degree in soil science, environmental science, agricultural engineering or related field

• Demonstrated experience in soil erosion, runoff and soil-loss assessment.

Community Communication/Media Specialist

• Experience in developing community awareness materials and animated/audio-visual content;

• Experience in communicating technical or disaster-risk information in simple/local language.

The consultancy firm may propose alternative team compositions provided that all required competencies are adequately covered.

16. Reporting and Coordination

The consultant shall report to Management or its designated focal person.

The consultant shall maintain regular communication with Management throughout the assignment and shall:

• Participate in inception and progress meetings

• Submit deliverables according to the agreed schedule

• Present preliminary findings

• Incorporate reasonable comments and feedback from Organization Seeking Service Provider;

• Obtain approval of the final deliverables.

17. Proposal Submission Requirements

Interested consultancy firms/consultants shall submit a technical and financial proposal containing, at minimum:

Technical Proposal

1. Cover letter

2. Understanding of the assignment

3. Proposed methodology and approach

4. Detailed work plan and timeline

5. Proposed team composition

6. CVs of key personnel

7. Relevant experience and similar assignments

8. At least relevant examples/references of previous work, where available

9. Proposed approach for field validation and community consultation

10. Proposed approach for development of the two awareness videos

Financial Proposal

The financial proposal shall provide a detailed cost breakdown, including, where applicable:

• Professional fees

• Field visits and travel

• Survey/data acquisition

• Satellite imagery/data

• GIS and modelling

• Community consultation

• Video production

• Report preparation

• Other applicable costs

All applicable taxes and duties shall be clearly identified.

18. Evaluation Criteria

Proposals may be evaluated using the following indicative criteria:

Organization reserves the right to modify the evaluation criteria and weights in the final procurement notice, in accordance with its applicable procurement procedures.

19. Intellectual Property and Ownership of Outputs

After assignment completion all reports, maps, GIS datasets, databases, photographs, models, scripts, videos and other materials produced under this assignment shall become the property of Organization Seeking Service  upon completion and payment of the consultancy.

The consultant shall not publish, distribute or otherwise use project-specific data and outputs without prior written authorization.

20. Confidentiality

The consultant shall maintain strict confidentiality regarding all information, data and documents obtained during the assignment and shall not disclose such information to any third party without prior written approval.

21. Application / Submission Procedure

Interested and qualified consultancy firms/consultants are invited to submit their Technical and Financial Proposals in accordance with the requirements specified in the Request for Proposal/advertisement.

The proposal should clearly mention:

“Consultancy Services for Combined Flood Hazard, Soil Runoff and Erosion Assessment, Protective Asset Siting and Community Awareness- District Lasbela”

Interested applicants shall submit their proposals to: [email protected] by 9th Sep, 2026 before COB.

Only shortlisted firms/consultants may be contacted for further clarification, presentation or negotiation, as applicable.

22. Expected Outcome

At the completion of the assignment, the service seeking organization will have a decision-grade evidence base showing flood hazards, inundation and exposure, soil runoff and erosion risks, and priority locations for protective and water-related interventions across the four target villages and their flood corridor.

The assignment will also provide a complete technical report, validated maps, editable GIS/data, practical asset-siting recommendations and two community-friendly, animated awareness videos to support both institutional decision-making and community-level risk communication.