The South San Joaquin Irrigation District has forged a solution to handle stormwater discharge from a critically needed elementary school site in southwest Manteca.
The temporary emergency stormwater discharge agreement with the City of Manteca is before the SSJID board when they meet Tuesday at 9 a.m.
The Manteca City Council will also need to approve the agreement.
Manteca Unified Assistant Superintendent Victoria Brunn on Friday said the agreement — that the MUSD is not a direct party to — will help “clear a path forward” for the TK-8 elementary school near Woodward Avenue and Jason Street.
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.
That allowed the city to avoid putting a costly system in place to have runoff from most of the city reach the San Joaquin River by using the SSJID French Camp outlet canal that runs parallel to the railroad tracks that double as the shared city limits between the cities of Manteca and Lathrop.
It also means Manteca Unified won’t need to pursue a possible option with SSJID that school district facilities manager Aaron Bowers said 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 — that the city likely would not have agreed to do or legally be required to allow given the school district is not a public utility.
SSJID General Manager Peter Rietkerk noted the irrigation district board “takes it to heart” when it comes to pursuing solutions that benefit the greater community.
Rietkerk noted it was a unique opportunity for the district to help devise a solution that helps get a school in place in an area that is not within their district.
He said 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 city is now spending more than $9 million to create an outfall west of the Oakwood Lake Shores community into the San Joaquin River as well as install an initial pipeline.
That pipeline will run to the site of a future pump station that will be installed and connected with additional pipe to exist in storm drain lines in place.
The city has started preliminary work on that phase that is also needed so developers can build on all approved lots 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
