Flood control agency faces funding cuts

Press, 4 November 1986, Page 35

Flood control agency faces funding cuts

PA Wellington The agency that does most of New Zealand’s research on flood control and soil erosion faces funding cuts of more than 50 per cent during the next four years. Catchment boards rely heavily on the the Water and Soil Directorate of the Ministry of Works and Development for their research.

Dr Michael Taylor of the directorate has said that a decision to cancel two research programmes in the Antarctico this year would make only a small part of required savings. The Government plans to cut research funding in the directorate 65 per cent.

These cuts are more than twice the 30 per cent cut planned for the Gov-

ernment’s main research agency, the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.

Under the user-pays principle the directorate can sell research to make up for lost funding cuts. Dr Taylor said that with an $B.l million annual budget and 160 staff, the directorate would find it difficult to find enough clients to make up for the cuts.

“Our users are the people at large. Our work is entirely related to water and soil conservation.”

Although catchment boards are among the main users of the directorate’s research, under their present statutes they do not have authority to fund research. All research is done for them

by the directorate, and it is not possible to charge them for research.

Dr Taylor said the Ministry was now evaluating options for dealing with possible cuts next financial year. The Antarctic research cuts would save only $70,000. One project attempted to relate Antarctic climate to New Zealand climate and the other project was to look at a simple Antarctic river system in an effort to learn more about more complex rivers in. New Zealand. In the light of other cuts the Antarctic research programme was of lower priority. Dr Taylor said that although the directorate was not having much success in finding clients in New Zealand it was find-

ing potential clients overseas.

A sophisticated com-puter-controlled flood forecasting system recently installed in New Zealand has attracted a lot of interest in several Pacific rim countries which have quick-rising rivers like New Zealand. A contract has been signed with Fiji to install a similar system. China was interested in the computer software programme from New Zealand for its flood-warning system as were Nepal, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. Mr lan McLean, the Opposition’s acting science spokesman said the Labour Government’s policy of user-pays was being carried to ridiculous extremes.