THE RIVER L

Ellesmere Guardian, Volume XLVI, Issue 3232, 29 June 1928, Page 8

THE RIVER L

DRAINAGE OF ADJACENT LAND

COST OF DRAINAGE TOO HEAVY

FOR LAND TO CARRY,

At its meeting yesterday the Springs County Council received from the Commissioner of Crown Lands a copy of a report furnished by Mr E. G. MacMorran, Chief Drainage Engineer, Department of Lands and Survey, upon levels taken along tho line of thc.Ll river, which runs from Lincoln to Lake Ellesmere, in connexion with a suggest-" od drainage scheme, affecting . about 1,000 acres of land.

The levels in connexion with the proposal, stated1 the report, were obtained by the Chief Surveyor, Christchureh, end were taken along the roads. The connexions Avere made to the river at three' places, at which the level of the water at the date of survey, April 28, was obtained. In addition a connexion was made to the-water level in the lake at the mouth of the river.

There were two problems in any scheme to improve the drainage of the lands that were affected. The first was the maintenance of the lake at a lower level, while the second, which affected the upper land, was the improvements to the river so as to reduce the normal water level.

A PROHIBITIVE COST. ' "The second problem," said Mr MacMorran, "from the data obtained, inclines me to the opinion that it is practically impossible to reduce * the water level from the lake to Hoskin 's bridge, except at a prohibitive cost, as at the time of survey the fall between these two points was only one foot per mile. This conclusion is arrived at when the existing variation of the lake level is taken into consideration." The land to receive benefits would be the area between the Railway and English bridges, an approximate area of 1000 acres. An additional area above the railwa}-- would, also' receive benefit, especially if the work was extended upstream, but there was no data as to the. further distance the works should extend to. ' _ I [ ■ ■ CONSOLIDATION LIKELY. t One feature of any proposal, in this ] area that could not be overlooked was the possibility of the umvatered lands sinking'by consolidation ak the water was lowered. He was of • the ' opinion that such would occur, and this would (neutralise, to a large extent, the benefits likely to accrue, of lowering the ■water. Opinions might differ, but that was the only conclusion he could arrive at after careful consideration. No estimate of cost could be arrived at as such could only be given after a detailed survey of the river had been carried out. Whether "such further surveys should be carried out : he could only state that any, proposal which could be formulated would be an expensive one, as willows would have to be destroyed and fairly heavy excavation work carried out. The work Would cost more than the land should carry.

In closing Mr MacMorran pointed out that the maintenance cost of an improved channel would be more than at present because of the reduced velocity in the upper portion of the area.

COUNCIL DISCUSSION

Both Mr MacMorran and Mr E. T. Stewart (drainage engineer, of Dunedin) held out little hope of much permanent improvement being made in regard to drainage along the LI until Lake Ellesmere was provided with an outlet which would keep the lake water at a low level all the year round, said the chairman.

"It-is useless for us to go any further with this matter in the present circumstances," said Cr. Simpson. Cr. Yarr said that the question of providing Lake- Ellesmere with a permanent outlet was of prime importance. Nothing could be done in regard to the River L in the meantime.

It was decided to send a copy of the report to the Drainage Committee, composed of farmers holding land ad jacent to the river, for its eonsidera tion

The clerk was instructed to convey the Council's thanks to the Commissioner of Crown Lands and Mr D, Jones, M.P., for their practical interest and assistance.