US and rural Nevada town clash over 1905 irrigation canal

By SCOTT SONNER
Associated Press

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Lawyers for the U.S. government and a rural Nevada town are arguing over Western water law in a legal battle over plans to renovate a 115-year-old earthen irrigation canal that would eliminate leaking water local residents long have used to fill their own domestic wells. The two sides clashed Wednesday in federal court in Reno where a judge rejected Fernley’s bid last year to delay plans to line parts of the Truckee Canal with concrete to make it safer after it burst in 2008, flooding nearly 600 homes. The federal bureau says it will help guard against another breach and reduce loss of water that belongs to U.S. taxpayers.