Slack Season For Irrigation

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28559, 12 April 1958, Page 9

Slack Season For Irrigation

The Parliamentary Select Committee which will be reviewing irrigation in Canterbury next week is coming to the province near the end of an irrigation season in which irrigation water has been relatively little used. The season has been one of those in which rains have fallen at regular intervals, so that just when there were prospects of a dry spell and irrigation usage was likely to build up more rain fell and interest in irrigation fell off again. A spokesman for the Ministry of Works said that a little irrigation was used from October to December, and it appeared that dry conditions were about to develop again .at the beginning of March; but then rains came again. Compared with the drought season of 1955-56, when irrigation usage reached record proportions, only a fraction of water has been used this season. Even compared with last season, which was a very wet one, the water used this season has been sharply reduced. For the first time this season water was .available on the May-field-Hinds scheme below the main south railway line but none has been used. Here are the details of acre feet of water used on Canterbury irrigation schemes up to the end of March in the last three years:

1956 1957 1958 AshburtonLyndhurst 43,429 20,025 10,835 Mayfield - Hinds 21,185 7,682 2,817 Levels Plain .. 6,164 4,371 1,155 Redcliff 1,821 761 10 Totals 72,sdB 32,839 14.817