IRRIGATION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18510, 22 March 1922, Page 5

IRRIGATION.

THE MANUHERIKIA SCHEME IMPORTANT UNDERTAKING, COMPLETED. WATER TURNED ON BY MR COATES. - ’ * (Fbom Oub Special REPOBfm.} ALEXANDRA, March 21. On turning on the water to-day in tba Manuherikia irrigation race, the Hon. J. (j. Coates (Minister of Public Works) performed a ceremony of great significance to the people of Central Utago, whose chief need is a supply of water to make their land fruitful and productive. The Manu- ■ henkia scheme, it may be said, is at present the second largest in Central Otago, being exceeded only m magnitude by the Manor- • burn scheme, which has made a green and smiling countryside of Ida Valley, but when it has been developed to its full capacity , by construction, at some future date, of the. proposed dams further up the river, _ it, will be easily the largest. At appoint immediately above Chatto Creek the intake lias been constructed, and "here 100 oubio feet per second of water have been diverted, from the river to irrigate an area of 11,000 acres of land lying in the triangle below, i and bounded bv the Clutha on one ode,, j the Manuherikia on the other sides end completed by the race itself at a “hairpin.’'.. ' bend in the river. A tunnel has been i driven at such a level that the upper end 1 is below the level of the river, while the outlet end is above flood level. This method of construction was designed in the interests , j of safety, and it has a further advantage, of ensuring at all time a plentiful supply of water in the tunnel, while, in addition, it also obviates the necessity for having a dam at the intake. At the intake automatic gates have been placed, so as to prevent an undue amount of water from ing the tunnel in the event of a rapid rise., in the river. As a further precaution another safety device has been arranged at the outlet so that all the water may be p«t back into the river in the event of the gates jamming or being interfered with in any way. THE OFFICIAL FUNCTION. The official ceremony, which was presided over by Mr James Ritchie, chairman of the Vincent County Council, attracted & large attendance from Alexandra and Clyde, and, in fact, from all parts of the province, thus showing the great importance which was attached to the occasion. The party left their cars just outside Chatto Creek, and followed the line of race round a contour of hills to the intake, thus gaining a good idea from personal observation of thp fine,. solid job which has been made of the concrete water channel. The race has been some seven years in making, but, of course, the war period interrupted tho i progress of work to a considerable «*-' | tent. The actual construction was carried out under tho supervision of Mr J. fi. • Marks, with Overseer Gray in charge of the working party. The formal ceremony of turning on the water was very well arranged, and tho chief feature of.. tho gathering was the frank delight of. tho settlers. in the consummation of & large and important work, which will mean a great deal to them in years to oome. / Or Ritchie said the occasion was a red letter day in the history of Central Otago, as the event which they were celebrating would make for tho prosperity of tho whole province. Borne criticism had been levelled ‘ against this particular scheme, but if the critics were present that day to see the fine solid job which had bgen made of tho race they would bo silencea for ever.' Proceeding, the sneaker congratulated tho Minister and bis officers, Messrs Furkert, - Campbell, and Marks, on the completion of the scheme. Mr Furkert had been tha life and soul of the proposal from tho very' start, and actually the work had been most capably carried out under the direction ol Mr Marks.—(Applause.) Mr Coates should be proud of his officers, and be was sure that tho people of that district realired that they were doing the beet in the interests of the province and the dominion oa a whole.—(Applause.) Mr J. Horn, M.l'., said he felt sure that this scheme would do for the districts served what the Manorbum scheme had dona for Ida Valley. The effect of such schemes was that where it formerly took four acres to feed a sheep they could now Lave eight sheep to an acre. By that means they were going to produce not only for the whole of the province but for other parts of the dominion as well. Throughout the whole district there was a general desire for the completion of the irrigation schemes at present under construction, and for the j storting of others, so that the whole place might have water as soon as possible.— (Applause.) Sir Furkert said he was a very proud • man that day, because this work had been one of the dreams of his life, and now he saw it completed. He had long ago recognised that water was the only hope for Central Otago, and he had taken a trip abroad at ins own expense arid. mode a study of the whole subject. He had felt confident that what had succeeded elsewhere would succeed here, and he thought that expectation was on a fair way to be , realised. -Ur C. Weaver and Cr Murphy also spoke. Mr Coates, who was received with en* thusiasm, said that in the first, place -ho wished to apologise for the absence of fur William Fraser, who had really set the : scheme on foot, because he had made the first authorisation for the work. Continuing, he paid a tribute to those men in the • district who bad forwarded the interest*' of the scheme in season and out of season, and who now had the satisfaction, of seeing it brought to a satisfactory conclusion. He had heard for the first time that day that Dunedin was entitled to some of the credit, bn; be did not think that the newspapers said one-half enough about the needs and the requirements of Central Otago. In 1920-21 the sum of £40,000 had been voted for irrigation on his authorisation, but instead of sticking to the £40,000 they nod spend £56,000 This year they had £85,000 on the Estimates, but up to February 28 no less than £75,000 had been spent, and he was afraid that the Estimates were again going to be exceeded. This scheme had cost £163,000 to date, and the total cost would be over £IBO,OOO. There was & quarter of a mile of tunnel, two and a-half miles of concrete race. 19 miles of race in earth and flumes, and there were 14 miles of subsidiary races. The capacity at the start was 100 cubic feet per second, which was reduced as it went along, and it would irrigate 11,000 acres of land. The rates charged for water would be Is per acre foe the first year, 2s for the second! 4s for the third, 8s for the fourth, and then at the end of tho fifth year the price would have to be 16s. Proceeding, the Minister stated that his. policy in respect to the irrigation scheme was that as soon as it was assured that a proposed scheme would pay it was gone on with and completed, and then the next scheme was taken up. So far as this scheme was concerned there was no doubt that they would get interest and sinking fund, and that its value would increase as time went on. We wanted the population of New Zealand doubled, and for that reason these schemes were not a local matter, but wore of supreme importance to the prosperity of the dominion as a whole. Mr Coates went on to pay a tribute to the engineers who had carried out tho work, and also the men on the job who had carried out their part faithfully and well, and who descried their fully-earned praise. He hoped that many of them, if they so desired, would be successful in obtaining a piece of the land. If he could, help them he would do so. In conclusion, the Minister said the work of irrigation in Central Otago would be steadily gone on with, and all the productive areas would one day, he hoped, have a supply of water • that would enormously increase the prosperity of the whole district. —(Applause and cheers.) The Minister then turned on the water amid further cheers.