Phase 1 construction successfully accomplished to increase public safety and improve water supply reliability
Truckee Canal
FERNLEY, Nev. – Construction of the Truckee Canal Public Safety Improvement Project Phase 1 is complete and the canal, which provides water to the Truckee Division, is fully operational.
The project, funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and implemented in collaboration with the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District, entailed lining around 3.3 miles of the earthen canal in the most vulnerable stretch in the City of Fernley. Features to modernize the Fernley check structure were also completed. The project will significantly increase public safety for the city of Fernley, where a canal breach in 2008 damaged 590 properties and caused significant flooding, and will provide water supply reliability for farmers and irrigators throughout the region. Reclamation and Truckee-Carson Irrigation District broke ground on the project in November 2022.
“The Truckee Canal revitalization project reaffirms our commitment to making the investments necessary to safeguard community water supplies and modernize water delivery systems,” Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton said. “Completion of Phase 1 construction, funded through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, significantly improves this critical piece of infrastructure now and for generations to follow.”
Owned by the United States and operated and maintained by the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District, the Truckee Canal is one of the Bureau of Reclamation’s oldest projects. The 31-mile-long canal provides water for more than 50,000 acres of farmland, wildlife, and communities in western Nevada.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides $8.3 billion to Reclamation over five years to fund aging infrastructure projects, water efficiency and recycling programs, rural water projects, and WaterSMART grants to ensure that irrigators, Tribes, and communities receive adequate assistance and support.
The Department of the Interior announced $35 million in funding from the Presidents Investing in America agenda to repair the Truckee Canal, as part of an initial Fiscal Year 2022 allocation of $240 million of aging water infrastructure funding. This is the first project funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to be completed in Reclamation’s California-Great Basin Region. To learn more about the project, visit the Truckee Canal Public Safety Improvement Project webpage.
