CITY'S WATER SOURCES.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 241, 12 October 1927, Page 10

CITY'S WATER SOURCES.

COUNCIL MAKES INSPECTION.

HUZA DAK AND VIPE-UNE. CATCHMENT IN WAITAKERES. To inspect the water resources along the northern side of the Manukau Harbour, where Auckland has its water reserves, the Mayor, Mr. George Baildon, and members of the Auckland City Council left this morning on a full-day trip. The inspection will extend to the Huia works, where preparations are being made to augment the water supply by a huge dam across the gully. From the Huia dam a pipeline across gullies and through hills over the broken country to Titirangi is being constructed, and operations are in progress at various points along the route. Tentatively, April, 1929, has been fixed as the time for completing the waterworks extensions, but progress has been seriously hampered by several wet winters experienced since the commencement in the summer of 1923-24- Well over ,200 men are employed In connection with various parts of the scheme, and there are 30 or 40 on small contracts driving tunnels into the hills.

A distance of 7J miles, over which the inspecting council had to do a considerable amount of walking on rough country, separates Titirangi from the dam construction works in Huia Valley. At various points connecting tram lines give access to the scene of operations from the Manukau Harbour. Quarry resources in the hills have been exploited, and small workers' settlements have been established by the council. By the flow of the stream in Huia Valley power is to be generated to run a plant that will have to mix thousands of tons of concrete for the dam. Except that operations in the Huia are further afield than anything yet attempted by the City Council for bottling up the accumulated waters of thousands of acres, the steps now being taken to exploit the catchment areas resemble those applied at the Waitakere and Nihotupu dams some time ago. Some idea of the scope of the water supply reserve could be gathered by the members of the council as they tramped across rather strenuous "hiking" country to the last valley, drained by the stream that had its outlet in Huia Bay. On the other side of the stretching ridge of - the Waitakere Ranges streams at frequent "intervals made their way to the Tasi in Sea.

Not far from the tramline that con* nects with a wooden wharf at Huia Bay, .and close to Puponga, Point, Cornwallis Park is accessible by road from Auckland, which reaches inland almost to the point where the pipeline will be carried by tunnel thTough the ridge that separates Huia and Nihotupu Valleys. It is proposed, at the Huia gravitation dam, to impound 500,000,000 gallons of water. There are sites where additional dams could be constructed, but, for using these, a pumping plant would be necessary.