TAIERI RIVER TROUBLES

Evening Star, Issue 15293, 19 September 1913, Page 4

TAIERI RIVER TROUBLES

PETITION FOR A ROYAL COMMISSION. The following petition has been drafted by Mr Fraser, K.C., and wo understand it is to bo at once circulated for signature amongst owners and tenants of properties on the Taieri Plain : The course of the Taieri River through the Taieri Plain has verv little fall, and the silting of'tho bed that would take place in the ordinary course of nature has been seriously aggravated by tho deposit of silt from the diggings on the watershed of the Taieri River. This has gono on unchecked for 50 years, and has so' narrowed and shallowed the river bed that the latter cannot carry the flood water to the same extent as formerly. Another factor bringing about tho same result is the practice adopted in former years of planting willows along the river bank and leaving their growth unchecked, resulting in a further impeding of tho flow of waters in the river, raising the level of tho water, and hindering the drainage. The Waipori River has a rapid fall until it reaches the plain, and the Waipori diggings are in close proximity, with the result that half a million cubic yards of silt arc deposited annually in tho river, lake, and channels, blocking the exit the river, and shallowing and narrowing its bed. The result is that even in ordinary floods the water is poured out on the land adjoining the river and thence on to the plain. Waipori Lake, once had a fair depth of water over a considerable area, but it is silted up. Lake Waihola is practically a safety valve for tho lower part of the plain in time of flood, but its exits are silted up, and consequently flood waters cannot flow into it as readilv as formerly. There is a Drainage Board for the district, but its operations for some years past have only resulted in additional taxation without any appreciable resaltant benefit. But it is only fair to state iliat the proposition the board is faced with is quite beyond its resources. For many weeks past the major portion of the plain has been inundated, due not to any abnormal flood, but solely owing to the silted conditions of the channels of both rivers and to the absence of an adequate pumping system. . It may be suggested that the holder of riparian rights in the Waipori River received compensation when the latter river was declared a sludge channel. This is perfectly true, but in a delta with little fall the mischief caused by silting is not confined, to those who have riparian rights. Your petitioners feel satisfied that if radical measures for the amelioration of conditions are not speedily adopted the largo and fertile area affected will suffer most soriously, and tho losses we have already suffered will become recurrent and ruinous. Your petitioners realise that the local body affected is quite unable to grapple with the problems requiring solution, and the rates already levied almost amount to a rental value of tho land taxed. The mischief that has resulted is the necessary consequence of two large sludge channels, each with a fall discharging into a level plain practically without fall. YoUl 'Petitioners humbly pray that a Royal Commission may be appointed to take evidence and report upon the present condition of the Taieri Plain