Valley State Prison & Central California Women’s Facility New Potable Water Wells
Summary
SCH Number
2026080235
Public Agency
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
(CDCR)
Document Title
Valley State Prison & Central California Women’s Facility New Potable Water Wells
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
8/10/2026
Document Description
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation will design and construct two new groundwater wells to supply adequate amounts of potable water for the incarcerated population and staff at Valley State Prison (VSP) & Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF). The volume of the aquifer at both VSP and CCWF have dropped an average of 10 feet per year due to the overuse of the aquifer in the area and years of drought. Based on the age and unreliability of all the wells and less than optimum production of the two fully operational wells (wells 401 and 403), combined with the continued decline in water levels, two additional wells are needed to meet Section 64554 of the California Water Code and SWRCB requirements at VSP. The additional wells requested will also allow the institution to perform regular maintenance and to provide more operational reliability in case of future well failures, all while meeting the Maximum Daily Demand requirement.
Work will be performed within the already developed prison property within a highly disturbed undeveloped agricultural field. Both locations are not within environmentally sensitive areas.
Contact Information
Name
Peter J Connelly, Jr
Agency Name
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Job Title
Chief, Environmental Planning Section
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Location
Cities
Chowchilla
Counties
Madera
Regions
Citywide, Northern California
Cross Streets
Avenue 24 and Road 22
Zip
93610
Railways
Burlington Northern Santa Fe
Other Location Info
21633 Avenue 24, Chowchilla CA 93610
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Categorical Exemption
Type, Section or Code
Class 1; Sec 15301 (Existing Facilities)
Reasons for Exemption
The projects are categorically exempt from CEQA under the “Class 1” (14 CCR §15301) exemption per the CEQA Guidelines because they have negligible to no expansion of use. The project site is located within a previously disturbed area that is not considered environmentally or historically sensitive. This is one of a class of projects that the Secretary for Resources has found do not have a significant effect on the environment and therefore is declared to be categorically exempt from the requirement for preparing an environmental document.
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
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