HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER.

Grey River Argus, 27 November 1920, Page 2

HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER.

The decision of the representatives ! of local bodies yesterday to set up a Power Board for the Grey district is only what was to have been' expected, and the wonder is that, with a district like ours, this decision "was not taken • earlier. AYe are certainly well located as regards both coal and water power, but hydro-electricity is the coming motive power, and nobody can forsee the. full possibilities of a district that is as richly endowed aa Grey in that respect. One can form an idea fro mthe huge project now mootad in England to uaiu the river Severn and provide a million l*orse po-wer a day by means of hydro-electricity. The world's coal shorta|c has turned engineering genius to wafer power as a 1 remedy, and the results of such mental concentration wiU ere long emerge in a diversified set of sehem.es app.i- < cable to all varieties of country. The essential element, the water, is here in plenty, and it is .only a matter of handling it properly. The damming of the Severn and the creation of aew lakes arc schemes giving some indication of what may b"c hoped for in the not distant future. With the completion of the overland railway, the need for more power will arise locally, and it is therefore proper that preparations should be made to taj^ -advantage of every opportunity. in Buller and Wostland Power Boards have some tinib been constituted, and it may be found possible for West Coast districts to co-operate, especially if a system Js' introduced linking up all power stations in the South Island." Lake Brunner and the many streams hereabouts are bound to prove susceptible to exploitation for power sooneiS or later, and it is to be hoped that the newlyconstituted Board here will lose no time in collecting all the data possible and putting the district in readiness to profit by the progress Of the science of engineering.