RIVER BLOCKAGE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23088, 13 July 1938, Page 14

RIVER BLOCKAGE

LOOSE WILLOW TREES DANGER TO WAIKATO CRAFT LOCAL BODIES UNABLE TO ACT [from our own correspondent] HAMILTON. Tuesday The damage to property and the danger caused to river steamers and smaller craft through blockages caused by loose willow trees in the Waikato River were the subject of a letter from the Hamilton Borough Council, received by the Waikato County Council to-day. "It is well known that certain private individuals owning properties along the river are periodically cutting willows and allowing them to fall into the river," stated the letter. "The willows find lodgment and grow, and in a short space of time the obstruction causes a sandbank to form, and ultimately tho whole course of the river may bo affected. In the meantime, the sandbanks are a nuisance to river steamers, and the willows themselves a source of danger to smaller craft." The letter expressed the hope that some action would be taken to prevent further obstruction The chairman, Mr. J. A. Sampson, said he did not think any satisfaction would bo obtained until the Waikato River was brought under the control of the State.

The county engineer, Mr. A. A. Woodward, said the obstructions in tho river were not as serious as people thought. Tho same amount of water always went through, whether there were obstructions or not, and where there were sandbanks in one placo there was scouring out in another. A motion moved by tho chairman that, under the existing legislation, lack of finance and lack of unified control, it was practically impossible for local bodies to deal with the problem, was carried