2026 Vegetation Control Program

The 2026 Vegetation Control Program is an annual maintenance initiative managed by the California Department of Water Resources, San Joaquin Field Division, to ensure the structural integrity, visibility, accessibility, and drainage functionality of the State Water Project and Coastal Branch aqueducts. The program primarily involves the application of pre-emergent herbicide via spray rigs mounted on pickup trucks along over 120 miles of aqueduct access roads and surrounding structures, with operations taking approximately three months to complete the full corridor spanning miles 172.58 to 293.45 of the State Water Project and 0.0 to 17.84 of the Coastal Branch. Spot treatments are conducted throughout the year as needed to address emerging vegetation. In addition, plant debris—primarily tumbleweed—is mechanically removed using back-hoes and loaded onto dump trucks for transport to designated burn sites across Kern, Kings, and San Luis Obispo Counties, where it is destroyed in controlled burns. The program operates under a ministerial exemption under California Public Resources Code Sections 21080(b)(1) and 15268, categorizing it as a non-discretionary, routine maintenance activity exempt from full environmental review under CEQA. All work is performed within the SJFD boundaries centered in Bakersfield, California, with the field office located at 4201 Sabodan Street. The project does not include formal pricing data, CLINs, contract type specifications, or federal acquisition regulation clauses, as it is executed directly by the state agency using internal resources. The point of contact for program oversight is Elizabeth Maldonado, Senior Environmental Scientist, who also signed the Notice of Exemption and related certification documents submitted to the Office of Planning and Research in Sacramento. No contractor is involved, and no formal evaluation factors, award methodology, or payment terms are documented in the provided materials, reflecting the program’s status as an in-house state operations function rather than a competitive procurement.