RENO (AP) - A panel of local officials has approved a $7.2 million river restoration project at the former site of the infamous Mustang Ranch brothel east of Reno.

The Flood Project Coordinating Committee took the action Friday in its push to complete a long-awaited Truckee River flood control project.

Plans call for the river ecosystem to be restored to a natural condition on the land where the Mustang Ranch was located.

Improvements will include cutting new meanders into the river channel. When finished, the restored site will help floodwaters spread naturally over the landscape, improving fish habitat and boosting water quality.

The area is the site of Nevada's first legalized brothel, founded by Joe Conforte in 1971 and operated until 1999 when the federal government seized it after guilty verdicts against its parent companies and manager in a federal fraud and racketeering trial.

The property was subsequently obtained by the U.S. Bureau of
Land Management.
Committee members also agreed to spend $2 million for design and
other costs associated with the tearing down and replacement of the
historic Virginia Street bridge in the heart of downtown Reno.

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