DRY SUMMER PROBABLE.

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 215, 9 September 1921, Page 4

DRY SUMMER PROBABLE.

WATER SUPPLY AFFECTED. PRECAUTIONS BEING TAKEN. A somewhat eerious outlook in regard to the city's water supply was revealed in two reports from Mr. J. Carlaw, the waterworks engineer, received by the City Council last evening, the DeputyMayor (Mr. H. D. Heather) presiding. ! In a report dated Wednesday last, Mr. Cartaw said the yield of the Waitakere ' and N'ihotupu streams 'was feeling the ' effect of the continued dry -wreather. The September rainfall had been practically ' nil, and Mr. Carlaw declared that in hie ' 43 yeare' experience he had never known a similar season when the level of the 1 dam in August and September was the ' same as at March in previous years. He ibad started the Western Springe pump •on Monday last, pumping 1,600,000 • gallons, and on Tuesday 1,900,000 1 gallons, and that auxiliary was just ! holding the dam at tihc same level. The • quantity drawn from storage at Wai--1 takere was 20 million gallons and from : the auxiliary dam three million gallons. lln view of the fact that there was : every indication of a very dry summer, ! the engineer considered it would be ■ advisable to cease street watering until ' tlie advent of rain. The Deputy-Mayor said the position was very serious. He moved the adoption of the report, pointing out that it" meant the cutting off of street watering. I Mr. T. Bloodworth suggested the de:letion -of the last five words of the report, otherwise the Council would be ' compelled to start street watering when 1 the rain came. The report was adopted. An earlier report, dated August 29, was also submitted by the waterworks ■ engineer and appro-red. In that report • he stated that it was early in the season to feel concern repird'insi the water supply, 'but tho law rainfall at Wai- : takere of 34 inches for the previous : , eight months, as compared with 57.94 ' i inches for fcho corresponding period i n J 1020, was an indication of a dry season. : During the last two months the upper ; watershed at Nihotupu nad been used to . fill the auxiliary dam, which, in the i previous week, reached to within two feet of the spillway. To fill the dam he had drawn from the Waitakere storage two million gallons. After consulting the Mayor, said 'Mr. Oarlaw, iie i nad drawn on the whole of the running ■water from Nihotupu, and, notwithstanding that, he was still drawing from storasre at Waitakere an average of 800,000 gallons daily. In the event of dry weather continuing he proposed pumping from the Western Springs to cave drawing on storage. While not at present concerned about the future, he considered it was his duty to report tlv abnormal position at this time r>f roar The average consumption for tiie vrefe prior to August 20 was" ."> ,500,000 gal! ■"- The city engineer, Mr. \Y. E. [Vi-h. • reporting on the w.-rk at the NihotJp , -' i ! impounding dam for the nx>nth ended [ J August 19, stated that the concrete work to date wa> 2.107 cubic yards, n> [ which 19,291 had been laid 'by the la*' ,! contractors. Since August S. whei. . other essential works .had been completed, moe-t satisfactory progress hau , been made with the concreting. I The report was adopted.