WATER SUPPLY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 192, 15 August 1941, Page 5

WATER SUPPLY

— 1 | AUCKLAND'S NEEDS |j ' —— " i' KARAPIRO SCHEME ADVANCED '! ! ;| The advisability of investigating lisources of water supply which would; 11 be sufficient to meet the growing; ijneeds of Auckland, especially eastern , ; and southern districts was discussedi ,'bv the Suburban Ix>cal Bodies' Asso- : - )'ciation last evening. The meeting; 1 [was addressed by Mr. E. H. Potter oiV ; [ sources of supply in the Waikato,|i j with particular reference to the.' I possibilities of drawing water from'' the lake which will be formed at ; Karapiro, near Cambridge, as al result of the hydro-electric develop-' ment scheme there. j Mr. Potter, who attended the meetling by invitation, reviewed the history of Waikato water projects.i and claimed that the KarapirOj [development scheme had furnished jthe solution for the water problems; Jof the Waikato, Auckland and sur-j 'rounding districts. The past opposi-l tion to the Waikato schemes had [involved the city in capital expendi-i Iture that could only produce a limited supply of running water in a jdry season. Compared with the main ;Lake Taupo scheme, the change-oven ;to the Karapiro area wouid result in ja large saving in the cost of the pipe-j line. The capital cost of this scheme} to Otahuhu, approximately 90 miles,; was £1,000.000. j The president, Mr. I. J. Goldstine,! said that before sponsoring any! scheme, they had to be sure that it| was sound and practical, also thati ithere were adequate reasons for any 1 j proposed change of The! Icost of water had been based on estimated population growth, which had; ;been proved entirely wrong. In thei past they bad successfully gambled! on the capacity of future generations ito pay lor some of the grandiose

'development schemes, but gravel doubts existed in his mind whether,; they could continue such a policy,! with so small a national population's growth. The City Council had slated i iits readiness to enter into long-term.' agreements to supply all authorities jin the metropolitan area without!: restriction as to quantity. The' :purity of the water had not been" (questioned, and there remained onlyi; Ithe question of price to be deter-: mined. I Mr. A. Murdoch (Otahuhu) said the southern districts were experiencing! a tremendous drain on their present water resources and there was a definite need for exploring other sources of supply. He thought the Waikato' .scheme offered an opportunity for a great post-war rehabilitation scheme. : Other delegates counselled the adoption of the long view with jrespect to Auckland's water supply, jand finally it was decided that copies 1 |of the president's report and Mr jPotter's views should be circulated -;among local bodies for consideration.) .1 I