The Marlborough Express. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1905. A SERIOUS WARNING.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 283, 27 November 1905, Page 2

The Marlborough Express. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1905. A SERIOUS WARNING.

The communication received by the Blenheim Borough Council from the Commissioner of Crown Lands, urging the need for protecting the banks of the Wairau and Opawa rivers near the confluence above Renwicktown, seems to us to be of the very first importance. Mr Trent is not speaking lightly when he says that '' unless some

scheme is carried out on lines similar

to those suggested by the Engineer —and that without delay—the consequences will be most disastrous to* all persons between the Waihopai and Blenheim who own properties anywhere near the rivers Opawa and Wairau." That is a disaster that must be staved off at any cost. Not only is the town of Blenheim concerned, but also the owners and occupiers of a considerable area of the most fertile and most closely-cultivated land of the Wairau Plains. The question is not a new one. It has been a kind of Damocletian sword for the last five years. It is some years since the District Road Engineer made ah official report on the subject, and recommended the erection of a training wall, with & length of 110 chains, and estimated to cost £1050. The River Board considered this report with a good deal of concern, and recognised tine gravity of the situation; but the Board's impecuj'.iosity was in the wa}', and all that resulted was the construction of. a few temporary groins. "That'will have ' to suffice just now," said one member, sit the close of the discussion, " but tfeere is not the slightest doubt that the matter will have to be faced squarely sooner or' later. sl This fact, tre believe, is fully recognised by all our river-censervation authorities; indeed, it is ait engineering axiom that the key to the problem with which

they are concerned is in the vicinity

of Renwicktown. As far as the danger at Gibson's Creek is concerned, £1000 for permanent security would , be a cheap price, and the responsible ; authorities should make an effort to afford the necessary protection before it is too late. If the mass of water converging at that point is allowed to break bounds, the loss to propertyowners would amount to many thousands of pounds, and the excellent progress made in the work of river-con-

servation during the last few years

would be entirely nullified. It is perJiaps worth pointing oub that this work is likely to be greatly assisted by the formation of a Blenheim Harbor Board, which institution may be expected to make its appearance next year. The Harbor Board, by improving the navigableness of the river and encouraging the steamer traffic, would reli«*ve the River Board to a very great extent of the care of the Opawa river from the wharves to the bar; and the latter Jjody would be the freerto give attention to the higher, and perhaps more important, reaches of the river system. Probably, too, the different methods employed by the Harbor Board will help the position. For instance, the use of a dredge would in all probability prove the correctness of the growing opinion that money would lie bettor .spent in deepening the river than in building up the banks. This aspect of the Ijarborboard project cannot be too strongly emphasised; it should greatly strengthen the claim for an endowment for the proposed Board.