WAIMAKARIRI MENACE.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18242, 28 November 1924, Page 11

WAIMAKARIRI MENACE.

TO TH»; EDITOR OF "THE FEESS." r Sir, —Christ church ratepayers must again contribute a large ' sum for protective works on the banks of the Waimakariri. -All will agree that- the work done in the past for this purpose has piven only temporary relief. The menace is perhaps to-day. as great as when the first groin was-built. "While 1 quite agree with the specialists who have laid out' the latest scheme for the protection of Christchurch, at a cost ; of £24,000, that these' protective works' must- proceed to cope v.itli the rising .riverbed, -1 am finite convinced that except by the expenditure of enormous "sums of moneys,; works -of this sort • can only, give protection for a limited numbter-.of years. The source of the trouble starts.at tlie of all tributaries. have started" on tRe ~ hillsides, and steep faces have "become gutted'where n6t" so many*" years ago . grew dfeflte bush, scrub, or tussock. Shingle and boulders from these slips and guts are washed down all 'creeks and deposited where the fall lessens, the riverbed becoming filled up in consequence. To overcome tlie - difficulty. trees must be planted wherever possible in all creeks., right up to' the headwaters. If £24,' XX) were spent plank iuo- willows and poplars, beneficial results would show in fifteen or twenty years: The mountain torrent problem affects other places in JS'ew Zealand, and large amounts of property and land wiu be lost unless this planting scheme m taken up everywhere.— Yours,, etc.. , R. WETHER-ALL WILSON. "Kaikoura/ November 27th,; 1924; '