LAKE TAUPO WATERS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20638, 19 August 1941, Page 2

LAKE TAUPO WATERS

BIG STORAGE SCHEME WORK NEARS COMPLETION * With! the completion of the hew dam ■ the outlet of Lake Taupo and fthe likelihood of the gate-control gear (.toeing installed hy the end of this '-month, it is expected that the conservation, Of rfhe lake-waters will be 'pommehceS tty thl’”b§'g inning"” of S6p-' tqmber. The scheme, which was com7menced over a year ago, involves the of the course of the WaiTkato River immediately below the out- : let. 1 In the centre of the dam six 10-ton . gates are to be installed and through .those the flow of water of the lake u to feed the turbines at Arapuni will t be governed. The dam is constructed • to raise the lake level by sft., and this is achieved it will ensure a uniform flow of water all the year ’* round, and keep the power units working at full pressure, gi An illustration of the practical re--1 • suits of- the scheme was given by Mr. R. H. Bartley, general manager of the ■t Auckland Electric-Power Board. He |. said that every additional foot inL crease in the lake level was equiva- ”'| lent to 22,000,1)00 kilowatt hours, or . equal to the whole power-load for the *.{ North Island-for one "Week in sum-mer-time. He understood that the electrical machinery , to operate the | dam-gates would be fully installed and L in use in about a fortnight.