TAIERI-WAIPORI RIVERS COMMISSION

Evening Star, Issue 16335, 30 January 1917, Page 4

TAIERI-WAIPORI RIVERS COMMISSION

I ho 1 a u-.i i V\ a i pori i 1: w: ■ ( 'oniniss:on—-Alr:M-s ,| H. ’i !’<)111)1S(.!| o iiinan). (’’. R, Vicki i man. am! Ashley Hunter— sat at Berwii k mi pridin . Alcx-uMcr H.imiltnn laborer. said ho had lived in the distrirt, !<>)■ 50 vcais. The river in, n , 'oar and deep. They used to run o(o, W |i rails with timber, (he r nit.s <•' aw Hi- Mt- Ilio limhcv came irnin Hie iii'sh ;,i Mill ( roob. The oicole had now filled n; i. 'I ho river got had. when people si, Hied looking for gold about 50 virus aco. It wa ; over 40 years avn since it I" 1 ame a. nuisance. The floods in those oi'iv-i did imt do the harm tln-v did now. 'fhe silling had made the floods, worse. A suit el Lilt i nine dov, n now. 11,, had to sell nut owing to the damage caused liy silting. -Much worse sdt had come down since the weir was put up. A\ iiliam IMric, waggoner. said bis father lind .land hefoi'e him f.n the Wadpori. It was a -big stream an the early da. vs, hod, as regards width and depth.’ (hie 'cmild taKe goods up to Berwick in a good sized hoat. Do attributed the trouble, to ;hr filling up wliich had taken plan? since mining staited. The weir had not ini proved matter?. He did not think I'm miners could dr- anytning to prevent tin* silt, coming down. ILK, would not, coma; down if the mining wore stopped. Wai liola, lake had silled up ennsidcrablv. The (.Vaiiniisiion sat 'at Dme'din thij morning. Mi- f. city elm uical , ngji,-c-er, i aifl lie hid known the Waipou Hj-.cr lor leu years. He did not. think.’that -ninth -sit- fell into the river from the hilhidew Aeiy little i-ilt went down tin- river firm Hie country l.eimv the weir. Lake Luclla caught the siit that came down Pioneer thee!;, which met the main river above the weir. tV. .1). R. M'Curdic, city engineer, endorsed all that the Inst witness had said. Lake Luclla. caught a good flea] of ihc silt than came down the Waipoii River. In the _ Waipoii the edit was not all due to mining, (he iSilverstiearn soim-times brought dun n so much gravel that it filled Ujt the dam. Lake Luella. was now being raised to mcrcasc its capacity. Witness gave the following paiticuhnv of dents on Upper Waipori Lake Luclla ; Present' aieti, 142 ncies ; vapacitv, 104,500.000 cubic feet. The proposed increase in height was 20ft, wliich would make the total area. 325 acres, and gave a capacity of 505,000,000 cubic leet, Lodi London: Area, 48 acres • capacity. 45.500,000 cubic feet ; weir rapacity, 6.500.000 cubic feet; maximum run-off at weir. 5,n00 cubic feet per accond. 'The catchment above the weir was 106 square miles. Ihe silting in the Taieri River was no doubt augmented by the mining. He considered it was more sensible to provide for occasional floods than to try to prevent them altogether. As much silt came down ' the J.aien from natural causes as eamo down tin; Waipoii. I he Commission will sit again to-morrow morning.