Reno-area levees safe, officials say

JEFF DELONG
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
Posted: 2/4/2008

More than 150 miles of irrigation ditches, all built more than a century ago, snake through heavily developed portions of the Truckee Meadows.

Along the Truckee River, aging levees and flood walls hold back raging waters during the floods that regularly hit the area. They've stood the test so far, but community leaders are anxious to replace them with new structures designed to stringent post-Hurricane Katrina standards.

Four weeks after an irrigation canal levee breached during a heavy storm, flooding neighborhoods in Fernley, officials say a similar mishap in the Truckee Meadows -- while possible -- is not likely.

Reno ditches called safe. For one thing, officials said, there are some big differences between the canal that breached in Fernley and the ditches in the Reno area.

The Truckee Canal, reaching 31 miles from the Truckee River to Fallon, can carry irrigation water year-round. At the time the breach occurred -- during one of the most powerful storms to hit the area in 50 years -- the canal was running at 678 cubic feet per second, nearly 70 percent of capacity, said Ernie Schank, president of the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District.

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