Geology expert Robert Curry
testified Monday in a federal court hearing about the stretch of Nevada canal that burst
and flooded hundreds of homes in 2008. Federal inspectors had warned a
Nevada irrigation district in 2005 that the district's
irrigation system about 30 miles
east of Reno was at a "high hazard" level.
Homeowners who fear another flood this spring are seeking a court order to slow water flows in the canal that runs through Fernley and delivers water to more than 2,500 ranchers and farmers for their crops and livestock. The expert testified on behalf of flood victims and said the flood happened because of a flawed, century-old canal design, settling soil, inadequate maintenance and a rapid rise of water after a storm.
Homeowners who fear another flood this spring are seeking a court order to slow water flows in the canal that runs through Fernley and delivers water to more than 2,500 ranchers and farmers for their crops and livestock. The expert testified on behalf of flood victims and said the flood happened because of a flawed, century-old canal design, settling soil, inadequate maintenance and a rapid rise of water after a storm.
Former irrigation district employee Don Watson testified before U.S. District Court Judge Lloyd George that he reported the canal leak about October 2007, some three months before the flood.
Excerpted from MercuryNews.com.
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