Fiscal Year 2026-2027 Operations, Maintenance, and Capital Improvement Program ("Project")
Summary
SCH Number
2026100735
Public Agency
Kern-Tulare Water District
Document Title
Fiscal Year 2026-2027 Operations, Maintenance, and Capital Improvement Program ("Project")
Document Type
NOE - Notice of Exemption
Received
Posted
10/20/2026
Document Description
The Kem-Tulare Water District (KTWD) proposes to implement its Fiscal Year 2026-2027 Operations, Maintenance, and Capital Improvement Program across the existing District facilities and pipeline rights-of-way identified above. The Project encompasses routine inspection and maintenance, repair, sediment removal, and in-kind replacement or rehabilitation of existing agricultural water conveyance infrastructure to maintain operational reliability, improve energy efficiency, and prevent service disruptions during peak irrigation periods. All activities will be confined to previously disturbed District property, existing concrete pads and structures, and established utility easements; no work will expand the existing purpose or diversion capacity of the affected facilities.
Activities primarily consist of mechanical servicing and capital rehabilitation at existing pumping facilities. This includes annual maintenance and overhauls of pump and motor assemblies at the A venue 24, A venue 36, and Cecil pumping plants. At the Shafter Check structure, the District will design and rebuild a failed pump housing to restore mechanical function; this discrete repair is necessary to maintain essential water service and prevent or mitigate an emergency. At the Woollomes Pumping Plant, the Woollomes Pump Station Efficiency Increase Project will remove, rebuild, and reinstall worn pumps and motors to restore operating efficiency from approximately 60 percent to 76 percent without increasing diversion capacity, and will include hydrovac suction cleanout of accumulated sediment within the enclosed pump intake vault. Additional structural preservation includes surface preparation and repainting of exposed piping and infrastructure at the Twin Pipes and Quinn pumping plants. At Cameo #4, Guzman Reservoir, other Districtoperated regulating reservoirs, and the identified mainline, lateral, and turnout locations, activities will be limited to routine inspection and maintenance, repair, sediment removal, and in-kind replacement or rehabilitation of existing components within the previously disturbed areas described above.
Contact Information
Name
Skye Grass
Agency Name
Kern-Tulare Water District
Job Title
Superintendent
Contact Types
Lead/Public Agency
Phone
Email
Location
Cities
Delano, Tulare
Counties
Kern, Tulare
Regions
Countywide, Southern California
Other Location Info
Kern-Tulare Water District
Other Information
Existing District facilities and rights-of-way, including the Avenue 24, Avenue 36, Cecil, Twin Pipes, Shafter Check, Woollomes, Quinn, and Cameo #4 pumping plants/check structures; Guzman Reservoir and other District-operated regulating reservoirs; and existing pipelines, laterals, and turnouts along the A venue 24, Avenue 36, Cecil, and Woollomes distribution systems, including turnout/lateral locations 40-5, 13-A, lH, LW-8A, LW-17, Quinn & Woollomes Extension, CL-9, and CL-7.
Notice of Exemption
Exempt Status
Emergency Project
Type, Section or Code
Sec. 21080(b)(4); 15269(b)(c)
Reasons for Exemption
a) Location. Classes 3, 4, 5, 6, and 11 are qualified by consideration of where the project is to be located--a project that is ordinarily insignificant in its impact on the environment may in a particularly sensitive environment be significant. Therefore, these classes are considered to apply in all instances, except where the project may impact on an environmental resource of hazardous or critical concern where designated, precisely mapped, and officially adopted pursuant to law by federal, state, or local agencies.
(b) Cumulative Impact. All exemptions for these classes are inapplicable when the cumulative impact of successive projects of the same type in the same place, over time is significant.
( c) Significant Effect. A categorical exemption shall not be used for an activity where there is a reasonable possibility that the activity will have a significant effect on the environment due to unusual circumstances.
( d) Scenic Highways. A categorical exemption shall not be used for a project which may result in damage to scenic resources, including but not limited to, trees, historic buildings, rock outcroppings, or similar resources, within a highway officially designated as a state scenic highway. This does not apply to improvements which are required as mitigation by an adopted negative declaration or certified EIR.
(e) Hazardous Waste Sites. A categorical exemption shall not be used for a project located on a site which is included on any list compiled pursuant to Section 65962.5 of the Government Code.
(f) Historical Resources. A categorical exemption shall not be used for a project which may cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource."
County Clerks
Kern, Tulare
Attachments
Notice of Exemption
Disclaimer: The Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (LCI) accepts no responsibility for the content or accessibility of these documents. To obtain an attachment in a different format, please contact the lead agency at the contact information listed above. For more information, please visit LCI’s Accessibility Site.