THE CITY’S WATER SUPPLY

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 122, 16 February 1935, Page 6

THE CITY’S WATER SUPPLY

With the provision of supplies of artesian water from wells at Gear Island, the City, it is promised, should be well insured against drought conditions next summer. Dry seasons such as practically the whole country has experienced this year, are of course exceptional. For normal conditions the present resources, though not ample, are at least adequate. But, as was pointed out in discussion of the question by the City Council on Thursday evening, there is always a possibility of the occurrence of a cycle of dry years, as happened in England. As one result of that experience large-scale measures were put in hand to ensure that supplies would be equal to anv abnormal demands in the future.

There is no apparent reason why the device of supplementing the city’s water supply by drawing on artesian wells in the Hutt should not provide the margin of safety required by the present population. The question that remains to be answered is whether this supplementary supply, coupled with the demands already made upon it by the Hutt Valley boroughs and Eastbourne, would be affected by the demands of a much larger population both in the city and in these suburbs in a drought season. The reluctance of the Hutt Valley boroughs to agree to the City tapping the artesian flow was prompted by the apprehension that it might. There may be no real reason for this apprehension. Time and experience will show. But these emergency measures do not absolve the City Council, and the Hutt Valley boroughs, from looking to the future. Both in the City and the Valley there are possibilities of a great expansion of population, and plans should be made accordingly. The scheme elaborated by Mr. G. A. Troup, when Mayor, for the construction of storage dams at the head waters of the Hutt and Pukuratahi Rivers involved the expenditure of a very large sum, almost half a million, and could only have been made a practicable proposition by the co-operation of the City and the Hutt Valley boroughs. Through the opposition of the latter the scheme was dropped. It remains a possibility of the future which should not be overlooked in considering long-term measures for ensuring ample water supplies for all concerned.