THE WATER SUPPLY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15834, 3 February 1915, Page 8

THE WATER SUPPLY.

RESOURCES OF THE RANGES.

COUNCIL INSPECTS AREA

CONSTRUCTION OF NEW DAM

On tbe i>.va.«:on >i Hie ( iv I ...in. it's \ is.t to the ranges yesterday in old, r to inspect the sonny 0 { (1,,-, v..iter supplv the Ma\nr. Mr. V. J. Pair. CMC. referred, in a speech, to the schemes in band l'r r supply ing Auckland will) water in the ft it in •'

The re.-.om es of th,. ranges :, - a w.it.-r Supply, lie said, were not fully appro. ciated. 'the policy <.f the |.:.--,nt C.ty Conn, il bad been to look ah-ad. and lh-y had done this in regard to the water supply as in other mantels. '1 he storage of water in the ranges would, after the completion of the new dam .it Nihotupu and the , proposed dam across the Hum Valley, be sufficient for the needs of the city even 50 years hence. 'I hi" was r.v suming a continuance of the city's phenomenal growth and the ut ilj.-ation of the supply in all the suburbs. The schemes in hand had been passed by the Waterworks Committee, and had the approval of the council and its expert advisers.. After eight months of drought it had been deemed prudent to put a cieck on the consumption of water, hut, all need for the curtailment of the supplv was now past. '1 here was never any uecessiiy for panic regarding the matte:-, the steps taken being dictated by prudence. It is estimated that the scheme for a dam across the Huia Stream wi... if carried outwore than double the water supply at present being derived from Nihotupu. On January 28, the day before the breaking of the dry spell, the Nihotupu Stream discharged into the reservoir approximately 800,000 gallons, the estimated flow of water in the. Huia on the same dav being 1,859,000 gallons. If a dam ' was placed across the Huia Stream the accumulated water could easily be pumped up to the necessary level, only about three miles of pipes being required to crimen with those running from the Nihotupu reservoir. The cost of the Huia scheme is estimated at slightly under 00.000. The new dam across the Nihotupu Stream was visited yesterday. The erection of this structure has "onlv recent] v been commenced, but good progress has already been made in the preliminarv operations. That the site is ideal was the opinion generally expressed vesterdav. The new dam. when completed*, will result in the storage of about 540,000,000 gallons of water, the catchment area being about 5000 acres in extent. Within two years the work, which i.- estimated to cost £120.000. will, it is anticipated, be far enough advanced to enable a certain amount of water to be stored. Along the top of the dam it is proposed to take the roadway which will be the continuation of the Exhibition Drive from Titiran -i through to the west coast.