There’s now a big hole on the northeast corner of Northgate Drive and Crestwood Avenue.

And contrary to what one person was speculating on social media, it’s not to place tanks for another gas station.

Crews are constructing underground storm runoff storage beneath what was once a grassy area as well as part of the original parking lot of the former Kmart complex that is now a sprawling U-Haul storage facility.

At the same time, other nearby crews are placing underground fiber optic lines.

Assistant City Manager Kevin Jorgenson noted the work by the private sector is addressing localized run-off issues in the general area.

Once in place, the city’s storm retention basin to the north of Kia Country along North Main Street will operate more effectively.

It will also create another holding area for runoff to reduce/eliminate local flooding and to allow more development in the general area.

The water in the new underground facility as well as the open retention basin would be released into the city’s storm drain system as capacity opens up. The storage is critical in a bid to reduce the potential for intense downpours or extended days of steady rainfall from overwhelming the city’s system.

Ultimately, the water will flow into the French Camp Outlet and into the San Joaquin River.

Underground storage not

new solution for Manteca

The creation of underground retention for stormwater is not novel for Manteca.

A similar but larger project more than 20 years ago on a large parcel behind where Raising Cane’s, Habit Burger and Pandera Bread are located along East Yosemite Avenue allowed those three concerns to be bult as well as two future projects that are on the books — a two-story medical office complex and a mini-storage facility planned on Cottage Court.

In that case, a series of long 60-inch wide culvert pipe were buried.

Development in older sections of Manteca can be problematic when it comes to storm runoff.

Existing storm — some approaching a 100 years — were installed when Manteca was a lot smaller. And while the city has replaced sections that created major bottlenecks that triggered street flooding over the years, finding ways to reduce runoff — or to store water temporarily — has become more critical.

Sometimes, especially on smaller projects, storm water runoff is minimized via landscaping that does double duty as on-site catch basins that also serve as percolation basins to allow water to infiltrate into the soil.

Such an approach was used at Manteca Veterinary Clinic at Powers and Moffat and areas where several homes were added on former empty lots in the central district.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com