ON HAURAKI PLAINS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 281, 27 November 1922, Page 11

ON HAURAKI PLAINS.

MORE ABOUT WATER. COVBRITMENT'S SECRET REPORT. COUNCIL REFUSED A COPY. A "TOUCHY" DEI-ARTMEST. J-o. XX. ' __ .h. Htibiect of tlif water Continuing''V; , ' . Mr Walton said:- | "W h ~»«r_ a"o- before the i-iistitu- • 'Tth J e main. County, the H-" _-Metcalfe, civil engineer ol •* 1 ,, _' renorteil on tl"' streams (or AU :f„.'E on tl., Wlta outtm l" 10 ' i i_.i T have been inr le di U .U?eport wu 1« the efet ISrtev were not of sufficient, volume. .? , i copy »f ■■>■ new»r*P«r report o -~f-iThcW at Pipiroa, Hauraki e V ,i ;_:-. SX U-PiiblU' WurU- DepartST- wp° st on tt frosh w " a . pr -. f »h. Plain- How tho matter fare.l fJe-n then and 1«_0. when this cou.trJ !T«_ ns titutL.<l, 1 cannot _uy. but I do , ™?tZk much «as done. Somewhere; *__~. 820 a committee of settler.- was .1 d for the pwrpo-e-s of getting the h It approaelied the Minister, ffpromi-ed that t_.e report would he ebl»i*i-_-----yOR DEI'AUniEXTAL n'BPOSKS ON I A." «As the report did not come to hand -vC-Uncil took the matter up and last instructed mc to write to the £er of Public Works for the report ! &replied, declining to forward :t and. M that it was obUined lor departmintal purposes only. "In June last through tihe member foi | _.Thames electorate, a copy of a report aadein 1021 by Mr. A. ... Baker, d.stru-t ensineer, Public Works Department,. AMk-Mid was obtained. (I enclose, a; Ml) y of this report tor your informa- ( tion) It was read and tho question feasted at a meeting of my council wien it 8 thought that tho estimated cost W prohibitive. PRIVATE ENTERPRISE STEPS IX. "About the same time a private firm rf-ngjneers hearing that my council was discussing the water problem sent a re- j prefientativo along to angle after the r#)t to make a report on every po.- ■ Mt source of supply. The report was 'c'__ free, but there was the proviso that if my council accepted any of the ichemea (as of course it would have to ia, seeing that the report would be on txiiy available source), then the firm of'engineers waa to be employed to iMfervise the work at the usual commission of 5 per cent—work that out on half . (million! { «One member of this firm addreßsed j mycouncil and advocated bringing water from the streams known as .Vaikaka. JUibfi-e, Toreihape, Waikumete and Waitikaruru, all of which arc on the bilk on the western boundary of the pliins. He said that on Juformatiprj he i*i he thought there would be a s*»~--r ctot supply nnd that he estimated tihe t coil at £400,000 or thereabouts, J fAfter due consideration and certain i inquiries my council decided not to avail itself of this offer. At the same time I . ns directed to write to a Dunedin en- j gineer and ask him how much he would ciarge for a report on the quantity and ■nitability of tlie water in the above streams. The data for thia report could _■ obtained only aiter a dry spell in nunmer time when the streams were at' their lowest. Since the question was . discussed by my council the Engine.r-in-Chief of.the Public Works Department, Wellington, wrote to my council as per the copy of his letter attached. He evi-dently-thinks his department has been •lighted, but it surely cannot complain at : trt being consulted after its refusul to •ripply my council with a copy of the report. | '"I think the above is all I can tell you : •bout the proposal for a water supply for the plains. It is a matter which must be. taken in hand before theso P|_i-8 can be brought to the height of, uieir produetivetv."

DISTRICT ENGINEER'S REPORT. The report of tho District Engineer (June, 1921) to the Engineer-in-Ohief. Wellington, was as follows;— 'The area of tho Hauraki Plains Wjuir'tng to be dealt with under the •Meme amounts to approximately 120,MO acres. About 67.000 ncres of this »ow requires water, and the balance of «.000 teres may not require a supply total about 1930. This depends on the -pWity with which this latter area is "*"M available for settlement.

*.. "A COW TO THE ACRE!" 'The country will carry about a cow in-2? *"*■• - nt - a population of about -0,000 wiien all settled. Total daily' gumption to b e provided for would •Mrtfore be as follows:—120,000 cattle ', "*2 gallons per day, 1,440,000; 10,000) Witants at 35 gallons per day, 350,-1 ~|i per day, 1,790,000 gallons. * j ~ie daily quantity for cattle is based * we army allowance fur a milch cow. !*»'-, to which .gals i 8 added for wash~f milk cans. etc. "The late Mr. Metcalfe, of Auckland, IWged the various streams on tlie east ™*-of .Vaihou, between Thames and ~«N with the following results: — W Minn Creek, water unfit for domes**e, u as it is impregnated with iron; m .Omalm Creek, minimum flow 240, ~C gallons per day; ( c ) Hikutaia -~*«n, minimum flow 800,000 gallons J~jW. Mining operations arc in pro-1 W- m this valley near the point of in- j •Mwed° thiß B * re -"-- cannot he con- j no only remaining streams likely prove suitable, the Waitawheta, with ____L_ n - ribut -i\v. the Mans-akino, were FW on 9th March last, after a proMa*. Spcl - of dr >' weather, of about wL ~.. ,hs - tl,fi results • vpre « 9 ,_v< Vtr f *' r * k " H - stronm » "'OO,OOO per; eimfl, ,law, " >U above the perdaT 0 ° f ih ° - ,I - n S a - tino - 10.000.000 ,V 10,000,000 (JAI-LOX FLOW. --Oirt ~ ~ suital)le site for a dam I two- f m ' le belo,v llle Junction o f these 10_tof-_t aniS ' *** ld a n *'"imum flow of 'na7__ TO gallons in very dry seasons «*_._- B ~ ely cx P ec ted. The catchment *hi.l - tho dam is about n ' soo acres . pw_cf VM a raily rUn of abo ' lt s" 0^18 •ater^f 11 '"""" snfficic "t to run the »rv ,'j , the I-'P 6B woul( l be » ee,!S * _*__-»♦.« level of the intake would -f t__. • hat above 'he general level country in the Hauraki Plains. The •»-i__i,~ a "L 8 al,owed f °r 'n bhc report tH . : ed from I'aeroa office was based t-__nf aw off distributed evenly over • ,« nours. As the main draw off wiU

be during about twelve bonis I have made amendments to allow for that rate and have increased sizes of mams cor res pondingly. "Possibly 700.000 gallons through the northern branch instead of 800,000, and 1 100,000 gallons through the western branch instead of 1,000,000 may be nearci t.he future distribution, if all the present unsettled area curries an equally delist population, but this will only mcar reducing the larger secondary mains ol the north branch about an inch, ant correspondingly increasing the 15in mail on the west branch, so that the pro bable total cost will not be materiall* affected. "A 22'n main has been allowed toi from the reservoir to a point abou: three miles west of Paeroa. Thence om secondary main leads towards Waita karurtl and the otOicr crosses tlie plain: towards Patctonga.

RATING OF 8/0 PER ACRE. , '•The estimate shows the cost to supply ] 1 the already settled portion of tbe plains ; i to be _-GIO,OOO, ant. the probable cost s to supply the portion not yet cut tip' i £200,000, making a ~Tand total of 1 £810,000. This allows for 120,000 acres, : and the annual cost will be 5 per cent ' interest on £810,000. £40,500; 1J per | cent as sinking fund, £12,150; total l ! £52,650. j 'This works out at an annual rate of 8/9 per acre, or estimating the value of I tho land at £30 per acre, a rate of 3d in the £. '•The late Mr. Metcalfe estimated tlie cost Ol supplying water to 40,000 acres at £75,735, but the cost of pipes is now about three times the then cost. "Xo allowance is m&de for service pipes or service connections, water meters, etc., at the various farms. "TURNING DOWN" THE DEPARTMENT. The letter from Mr. l'urkett. referred , to by Mr. Walton, was as follows: — ■ | "A recent meeting of your council was ! reported in the Morrinsville '.Star' on I July 18, and this has been brought tinder ' my notice. As it would appear from this report that proposals made by the Public Works Department were to be turned down without further considera-j tion and t"tat certain proposals ma-dc by | ■' a private engineer wore having tie seri- ; ; ous consideration of your council, 1 have looked further into this matter and 1 find that over a year has passed since tbe original report was made, during wliich time a fall in the price of pipes delivered in Auckland has taken place of such magnitude that on this item alone tihe work would cost £156,000 leas than the previous estimate. As you are well aware, several other portions of the work would also now be cheaper. "With regard to tlie proposal to use streams on the western 'side, 1 would draw your attention to a report made by the" late Mr. Metcalfe in 1915. Mr. Metcalfe made a thorough examination of all possible sources and reported that ; all the streams on the western side of j the iv-iup were too small and without j the elevation necessary to carry the j water acro3s the plains, besides which ] th<~ir entire flow is wanted for sections through which they run. - The depart-!

' ments engineers in 1920 saw no reasou ' to question' the correctness of Mt. Metcalfe's deductions. DEPARTMENT ADMITS FALLIBIT-ITY "I think your council would be well ad- ! vised to take the same course aa this department did in the investigations; that is to say, wait until the season of the year when streams _r"_' at their lowest (low and have them gauged then and before deciding to turn down the scheme outlined by this department that you should make close and full investigations of the problem from all sides. ilt is not claimed that the department's report is infallible, but it was not drawn lup without a great deal of care and consideration, and I would-be - glad to feel that _he same amount, of care and ! consideration is given to tho problem j before tihe scheme is definitely condemned.

"Your report speaks of the sclieme as costing £810,000, but as a matter of fact the portion included in tho first instalment, which is all that would be considered at the present time, waa fifteen months ago £610,000. and at present dayprices would probably not be more than £400.000 if as much, and it is not.es_e.n-' tial that even all t"iis amount should be done until actual requirements render it necessary." "Yours faithfully, F. W. FURKERT, Engineer-in-Chief and Under Secretary.