Modesto approved spending nearly $3 million to fight street flooding. What to know
If a Modesto street turns into a lake during a rainstorm, the city has a new five-year plan aimed at keeping rock well drains clear. But officials warn the storm drain fund is stretched thin — and there still may be flooding.
Original reporting by Kathleen Quinn:
Modesto’s 9,000 rock wells: What the $3M contract means for flooding
Here are the key takeaways:
- The Modesto City Council approved a five-year contract worth just under $3 million with Fox Loomis Inc. to maintain the city’s 9,000-plus rock wells — gravel-filled holes that drain rainwater straight into the soil instead of into a treatment system.
- The contract pays crews to unclog wells, pump out floodwater during storms and replace wells that no longer drain. Sam Fox, whose company has serviced Modesto’s wells for about 12 years, said the city stands out for the sheer number of dry wells it has.
- The work is funded entirely by the storm drain fund — the roughly $5 to $6 fee on residents’ monthly utility bill. That fee hasn’t been raised in about 20 years because of a 1990s state proposition capping rate increases.
- “The fund is quite challenged, to the point where we don’t have the resources to improve or do anything new with the storm system,” said Robert Englent, the city’s wastewater collection system superintendent.
- The contract keeps existing wells working but does not pay for new drains in flood-prone neighborhoods or system upgrades. The state’s unfunded “trash rule” is adding pressure, requiring the city to screen runoff flowing into the Tuolumne River and Dry Creek.
- If a well in a neighborhood overflows or backs up, calls go to the city, which dispatches Fox Loomis crews under the maintenance contract.