A “temporary” arrangement that allows runoff from a Manteca Unified school site to flow into the French Camp Outlet will likely be needed for just three years.

Several projects the city has put in motion means Manteca’s second discharge to the San Joaquin River west of Oakwood Lake Shores gated community will be in place by 2029.

Meanwhile, a temporary emergency stormwater discharge agreement between the City of Manteca and South San Joaquin Irrigation District approved by the irrigation board earlier week goes before the City Council when they meet Tuesday at 6 p.m.

In a nutshell, it allows the city to temporarily accept storm runoff from the 16-acre school site that is not within the boundaries of the SSJID.

The SSJID has an agreement with the City to handle much of the city’s storm runoff using irrigation district canals and infrastructure.

A large swath of southwest portion of the city is outside the SSJID. The rest of the city drains into the SSJID’s French Camp Outlet that parallels the tracks that double as the Manteca-Lathrop boundary.

That water is discharged into the San Joaquin River via a SSJID outfall in French Camp.

The first phase of the city’s own outfall west of Oakwood Shores is now under construction.

It is the actual outfall facility that has a tight construction window from mid-spring to mid-fall dictated by San Joaquin River conditions.

The second phase — a pump station and pipe that run along the western edge of Oakwood Shores and connects to the outfall — will start later this year.

The final phase is expected to be completed in two to three years.

Also on Tuesday, the council is entering into an agreement with the developers of the Trails of Manteca to install a storm drain pipeline that will connect with the city’s work that is already underway. It also will include extension of a sewer trunk line.

Given the improvements will serve more than the Trails of Manteca, the developer will be reimbursed for $3.1 million worth of the improvements from the public facilities improvement plan fees collected on new growth.

The temporary solution combined with the new outfall work means Manteca Unified won’t need to pursue a possible option that would have cost $1.4 million for MUSD to put in place a line to reach SSJID facilities.

That would have required digging up a number of streets — all of which are relatively new.

The SSJID has been diligently working on a solution since they were first approached in late 2025.

The district had to make sure that the overall system could handle the additional runoff, regulations regarding US waters were followed, and that it would not create liability issues for the district downstream or elsewhere.

The agreement basically will cover the district’s needs until such time the city finishes its work on a solution to address overall removal of storm runoff in southwest Manteca.

The school district expects plans for the 1,000 student campus that can be expanded, if needed, in the future to 1,300 students by building an additional 10 classrooms, to be approved by the state within six months.

That would allow the $53 million project being financed by community facility district bonds to go out to bid by mid-2027 with physical work underway by early 2028.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com