Lake Ellesmere

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30452, 28 May 1964, Page 14

Lake Ellesmere

Sir,—lt would appear that Mr E. J. C. Hay, secretary of the North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society, has been grossly misinformed. His figures and the true facts just dp not add up. In his reply he says “the North'Canterbury Catchment Board’s aim is to bring the lake level down to between 12 and 18 inches above mean sea. level.” Would not the majority of all concerned —1 a k e settlers, commercial fishermen, anglers, shooters, and others be happy if the board could achieve their stated aim, in place of the present 3ft 6in rise? Once the board has successfully opened the cut to the sea they have no fun ther control.' The lake can fall to under sea level, which has happened , many times, including the last opening just before Christmas. Surely the lake’s lowest level must be mean sea level- and not 18in, as Mr Hay stated:—Yours etc., INTERESTED. May 20, 1964. [The secretary of the North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society (Mr E. J. C. Hay) replies: “The information I supplied to ‘The Press’ came from an authoritative source and I have no reason to doubt it; it certainly seems more reliable than that given by the correspondent who, in one part of his letter, says: .‘The lake can fall to under sea level, which has happened many times, including the last opening just before Christmas.’ My information is that when the lake wasopened on December 20 last it closed at Ift above mean sea level. Records show that of 93 effective openings since 1913 there has been only one occasion when the lake closed at mean sea level: all the other closings have been above that level. Having given the facts, I do not' intend to enter into any further controversy on the subject, particularly with a correspondent who hides behind a cloak of anonymity. As far as I am concerned, in the language of newspaper editors, this correspondence may now cease!”] [ Arid so it may.—Ed., “The Press.”]