Fernley residents file another lawsuit in canal break

RENO -- More than 100 residents whose homes were flooded in January filed another lawsuit on Wednesday asking a federal court to block plans to resume normal water flows in a century-old irrigation canal that farmers and ranchers say they need for their crops and livestock.

The latest lawsuit names the federal government as a defendant and seeks to force the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to remove mud, toxic mold and bacteria from homes damaged by floodwaters when the Truckee-Carson irrigation canal broke in Fernley on Jan. 5. The break flooded nearly 600 homes and led to state and federal disaster declarations.

The bureau blamed the breach primarily on numerous rodent holes that weakened the canal's earthen walls.

But lawyers for the flood victims say experts have concluded the failure was because of "historical negligence" by the bureau and the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District in maintaining and operating the 32-mile canal built in 1903.

"The same dangers that caused the first breach of the canal still exist and increased water flow through the canal poses the imminent danger of another breach," according to the lawsuit.

Filed in U.S. District Court in Reno, the lawsuit claims the Bureau of Reclamation and the irrigation district "intentionally decided to allow a dangerously high quantity of water to flow through the canal at the time of the breach" because they wanted to restore water levels in the Lahontan Reservoir after years of drought.

More than 2,000 farmers and ranchers are dependent on the water the canal carries from the Truckee River.