RIVER CONTROL

Kaikoura Star, Volume LVII, Issue 48, 17 June 1937, Page 2

RIVER CONTROL

Afr G. Britten, in a special article in the Afotueka Star, discusses the problem of flooded rivers, a question which has exercised the minds of authorities

for generations. An interesting feature about the streams and rivers of Kaikoura is that in a number of instances they are running on higher ground than that which abounds on either side of them. In his article Mr Britten says:— “There is, however, another cause of our rivers bringing down so much shingle, and this 1 believe will have special reference to the Takaka River, and that is earthquake damage. As far as the watershed of this river is concerned, 1 cannot pretend to any knowledge, but seeing that it is on the fault lino and received a very severe shaking at the time of the last great ’quake, I see little reason to doubt that much the same thing occurred there as happened around Afurchison and along tho Buller River during the same upheaval. That earthquakes alone may account for much of the shingle now coming down certain of our rivers was very plainly ilustrated after the Cheviot earthquake. At that time I was on a sheep station just south of Kaikoura, near the Kowhai River. The station house was situated at the foot of the hills near a small creek, and the banks of this creek where it issued from the hills were steep and about 20 feet deep. It was from this creek that the water supply of the house was drawn, and the bed of the creek was rock formation. During the first heavy rain after the earthquake, large quantities of shingle commenced to come down tho creek and spread out fan wise over the almost level land below, covering several acres. As the shingle gradually accumulated below, much of it began to be deposited in the bed of the creek higher up, till at last the shingle was level with the top of the bank that had been, before the shingle began to flow, at least 20 feet above tho bed of the creek. The same thing was noticeable in the Kowhai River after tho earthquake, large quantities of shingle being brought down the river and deposited on the fiats, and soon the bed of the river was raised up higher than the main road than ran. alongside of the river.”