WATER POWER.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XXXV, Issue 4108, 8 December 1898, Page 2

WATER POWER.

In moat of the prospective industries the establishment of whioh are advocated as suitable for this district, stress is laid upon the contiguity of water as a chief faotor in their economical working. The bounteous supply of running water with which the neighbourhood ia provided, cannot, however, be considered a fixed quantity to be depended upon in perpetuity. The very rapid denudation of our forest lands now going on, must have the effect of decreasing the quantity of water whioh now flows by its natural outlets to the sea by the increase of. the quantity which is absorbed by evaporation. In older settled districts the change has been very marked, and many a cliff which once was beautified by cascade and waterfall now presents but an arid surface of barren, ropk. Although in clearing the lands for pastoral purposes many belts and clumps of bush have been left, it is feared that these will have but small deterrent effect, in view of the enornrous areas which are thrown open to the evaporating' qualities of sun and wind. In America great enterprise- is shown in the pre-emption of waterfalls, which like Niagara are to be put into harness and utilised for the production of electric power. When the mining boom became intense in the Auckland district it was feared that an attempt might be made by powerful syndicates to monopolise the enormous power of the Waikato river at the^Huka Falls and Government speedily intervened . New Plymouth has offered prizes for the best scheme for producing electricity for use in that town, and it is but" fair to suppose that the slopes of Mount Egmont will be explored fcr most suitable falls to work the dynamos. Those who have visited our mountain have not failed to * admire the great leap which the Eapuni river takes at Dawsons Falls. A few chains away to the eastward the Kaupokonui takes a similar leap of greater volume. On the way to the mountain from Stratford another fall , is seen, and doubtless exploration will disclose the fact that nearly all round the mountain a sudden depression in the slopes of Egmont occurs at about the same altitude. All these waterfalls will be of inestimable value in generating electricity for the use of the towns near the sea-coast and the railway. In the event of any individual fall being inadequate for the purpose, so close are many of these falls together that the streams which form them could easily be joined together by such races above the descent, as every digger knows how to construct. The lands in. which | these falls occur are the property of the Crown, being parts of the Forest Reserve, than whioh no wiser conservation was eve:- made. In view of the departure now being taken into the second stage of this district's evolution towards becoming a manufacturing centre, it would be wise if steps were taken to pre-empt for the service of the town such falls on the mountain as may equitably come within the area which the public, can claim. The water question in England is becoming a very serious one, and is calling for effective legislation to prevent municipalities sinking deep wells in rural districts for the supply of large cities, which deep shafts drain the supply of water from the shallower wells and springs used by tht people oi the [district. The question of distribution of the waters of the largo