HIGH STANDARD URGED

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21320, 13 November 1934, Page 16

HIGH STANDARD URGED

MAINTENANCE OF RIVER PROTECTION REPORT TO WAIMAKARIRI TRUST The necessity for a high standard of maintenance on all of the Waimakariri River Trust's protective works was emphasised by the engineer (Mr H. W. Harris) in his report yesterday to the commissioners of the trust on the abnormal number of floods which have been experienced this winter. The trust having decided to exercise its powers under the Local Bodies Finance Act and to increase its overdraft temporarily, he recommended the following works for immediate attention during the month:— (1) Flood repairs to Eyreton groynes. (2) Flood repairs to groyne at Fairweather's road.

(3) Coutts Island (lower) groyne and protection. (4) Coutts Island (upper) groyne and consequential raising of stop-bank. The groyne at Fairweather's road, he said, was a most vital point, and it was urgently necessary to make it safe against large floods. The fourth work mentioned was extremely urgent, as the existing stop-bank had been breached.

Falling Oft in Standard "In the flood repair works that are now in hand, and those urgently requiring attention, I would emphasise for the trust's consideration the necessity of a high standard of maintenance on all of the river works," stated Mr Harrison in his report. "Periodically, as has been experienced over the expired portion of the year, a river board is faced with a sequence of floods much above the general average. These conditions, of course, cannot be foreseen, and no provision as a rule has been made in the general estimates for the year to meet them. Some years back the trust made provision by instituting a flood repair fund, intending to build it up to some £IO,OOO to hold in reserve to meet emergency conditions. Owing to the economic conditions, it was not possible for many reasons to pursue this policy. Rentals from endowment lands have fallen away by some 50 per cent., rates have been slow in coming in and difficult to collect, bringing about additional expense through the necessity of having to operate over the greater part of the year on a greatly increased overdraft.

"The necessity of the trust assisting, with other local bodies, in the provision of unemployment relief, has been, of course, another main reason for the falling off of the standard of maintenance required. For obvious reasons, relief men have not been used to any great extent on general maintenance work, and have been principally engaged on construction of new works and improvement of reserves, thus also adding to the length of works to be maintained.

Flood Immunity "The position, of course, has been helped out during the last three years through so few floods having been experienced, but we are at present faced with the fact that the completion of the scheme of control of the river is some three years ahead of schedule and our maintenance standard has correspondingly gone back. The whole position as it stands to-day regarding the earlier completion of the scheme has, of course, been of considerable value to the trust's district in that immunity from flooding has been gained so much sooner. It is of interest to note that no overflow of any extent or other damage has been suffered since 1927, and that the main highway has not been blocked to traffic since that year. "The necessity for urgency of flood damage repairs to works must be a serious consideration for the trust, as failure to maintain must only result in loss of capital expenditure and consequential losses following the failure of established and consolidated works. Such loss would involve the recurrence of very heavy expenditure. "The law of averages seems to be that every few years an abnormal run of floods may be expected. We have been comparatively free since 1927, but since April of this year we have had to cope with 23 floods. The majority of these have been small floods, which in a river-bed such as the Waimakariri are actually worse to deal with than larger floods, as in the former case the flood wrters are not sufficient to fill *he whole bed and so follow a winding course through the upper reaches." The report was adopted.