THE FLOOD.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXXVII, Issue 166, 15 July 1903, Page 3

THE FLOOD.

TO THE EDITOR.*

Sib,—-The recent flood must have convinced aIT intelligent men that after all the money spent we are very far from being safe from the floods. Sheep drowned; fences destroyed; potatoes ruined in the pits; mucTand desolation ovor large areas of valuable land. The question of how to prevent such occurrences forces itself upon all of us. On Sunday morning when the flood was at its highest I crossed Nelson Street bridge in a drag; the water *ai up to the shafts, and a strong current running. A gentleman and a lady from Blenheim were in a vehicle close behind me. I advised them to turn back, but in turning they got into a deep hole, and the trap nearly capsized. It was very fortunate for them they got out at all. I then went to the ©verlow channel, and found Mr H. Onion. He had finished repairing the bank near his house, which was fortunate for the whole district down below. We then went down the bank to McKay's boundary. As we went down, the bank-appeared to be eight to ten feet above flood level. This fact is significant. The same quantity of water was in the channel there as at Mr Onion's farm. The reason was as clear to any person who thinks as a simple problem in arithmetic. If the channel was as deep at Mr Onion's farm as at Mr McKay's there woald have been no sheep drowned or fences trashed down, etc., in the borough of Blenheim. In draining a farm the flr»t and vital question is: Is there fall enough? In this case there was plenty of fall, and a channel wide enough to cope with any ordinary flood. In the summer when the channel is dry ploughs ought to be at work, and a narrow channel made up the centre between the two banks.: and when a flood came it would do more work in a day than 100 men would do in a year. I wonld humbly and mildly request our worthy river conservators to think over this view of the matter, lam, etc., R. Allan. Drumclog, 13th July, 1903.