HUTT ESTUARY

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 26, 31 January 1924, Page 9

HUTT ESTUARY

NATURE'S RECLAMATION

RIVER BOARD LENDS HELP.

Members of, the Hutt River Boardf Accompanied by the board's engineer, Mr. Laing Meason, spent some time on Tuesday afternoon making themselves familiar with the details of the proposed reclamation at the mouth; of the Hutt River. Just south of the "Pipe" Bridge, in the vicinity of where , the Waiwetu Stream enters the river, the estuary widens out very considerably, especially to the eastward. The area in this part is over 300 acres. At low water this is represented by numerous islands' made up of the shingle and silt brought down 'by the. river, separated by narrow channels of shallow water. Even at high; tide they show a considerable area above water level. t . ,'■ The work of the board in the higher reaches of the river is having the effect of hastening the natural reclamation, which is steadily progressing, as the straightening of the river's course is allowing the current to carry its burden of silt right to. the mouth. It was remarked by members of the board yesterday that fair-sized islands, now covered with 'Cparse grass, gorse, and broom, had not been in existence two years ago. The idea of the board is to hasten the natural reclamation. The matter is being lornrally .discussed at a meeting of the board this afternoon, when it is probable that the: work of straightening the mouth of the Waiwetu Stream will be autho: rised as a first instalment. At present the stream flows out agains^ one of the islands in the estuary, and meanders for a long distance before entering the river proper. It is proposed to make a "cut" through the island, and, by means of guiding walls, lead the stream directly into the river, when it is expected that the deposits of river silt made at high tide and the action of the sea i will rapidly fill-up the old channels of the stream. The chairman of the board, Mr. W. T. Strand, considers that .brushwork barriers placed at suitable places would materially help the.work, and probably experiments along these lines will be carried out. ; The walls for the Waiwetu Stream and later for-the main river will be supported on concrete piles, and it is proposed to establish a depot for makinc these, probably on Gear Island, just south of the "Pipe" Bridge. The work outlined will, it is expected, be carried out during the current year, leaving for the following year the work of - placing half-tide walls on either side of the channel of the main river from the bridge to! the river mouth. _ To the eye of a layman the opportunities for reclamation, even- beyond • the river mouth, seem to be very great, and ■ the engineer, Mr. Laing Meason, acknowledged that, the work of reclaiming the whole of the area, north-east, of a line from the river mouth to Lowry Bay point, would not be a very big undertaking. "Indeed;" said Mr. Laing Meason, it is not improbable . that at the present rate of progress without artificial assistance another hundred years would see persons walking dry shod from the western mouth of the river over to Somes Island."