Fernley to pay $5M, Lyon County $1.3M in '08 flood

RENO (AP) - Lyon County and the city of Fernley will pay the bulk of an $11 million settlement to about 600 victims of a flood caused by the failure of a century old irrigation canal three years ago under a deal approved by a federal judge in Reno.

Lawyers for the flood victims say the U.S. government and local irrigation district still are on the hook for as much as $150 million in damages.

They say the Bureau of Reclamation and the Truckee Carson Irrigation District were negligent in their failure to properly maintain the earthen canal, which burst and sent a wall of water into a Fernley neighborhood in January 2008.

Among other things, the settlement approved Friday calls for Fernley to pay $5 million and Lyon County $1.3 million.