THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY, MARCH 7, 1930. THE PROBLEM OF IRRIGATION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20969, 7 March 1930, Page 8

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY , MARCH 7, 1930. THE PROBLEM OF IRRIGATION.

It is not surprising, in view of the territory visited, that any report to the Chamber of Commerce by its members who recently made a tour of Otago should include very particular reference to the problem of irrigation. It was scarcely to be anticipated, however, that the members of the touring party would, after their necessarily hurried survey of land and conditions, be prepared to make such definite proposals in the direction of urging immediate increased expenditure as were indicated by certain of tha resolutions that were passed by the meeting of the Chamber on Monday evening. We are continually being reminded, although the reminder is unnecessary because the fact is patent, that it is easier to dispose than to propose, to criticise than to construct. The whole policy of irrigation in_£entral Otago is one that has always appeared to us to be in the best interests of the country. Yet it may be suggested that the Chamber has hardly displayed its usual wisdom in associating itself so actively with the endeavour to persuade the Government to continue the development of the country through the construction of the Upper Manuherikia irrigation scheme at a time when the Minister of Public Works is awaiting the consolidation of existing undertakings. The Chamber of Commerce has adopted the view that the Government should go on with a work which, it has been estimated, will require the expenditure of approximately half a million sterling. That cost would necessitate the payment by the land of not less than twenty shillings per acre—a charge that has already been found too high in the very best of the irrigation settle* raents which the State has sponsored. One vital aspect of this tremendous problem seems to have escaped the notice of the Chamber of Commerce, though there was a hint of it in the statements with which Mr James Begg endeavoured to stem the tide of enthusiasm at this week's meeting; and it seems equally to have evaded the better informed eyes of leaders of public opinion in the district itself who can be classed as anything but irresponsible men. We refer to the fact that the Government has been compelled to abandon its original policy of requiring irrigation schemes to earn 3 per cent, on capital outlay in respect to construction and maintenance cost, for the simple reason that the water rentals that could be relied upon to produce this return have proved a burden too heavy for the landholders. Mr Begg's reference to a "ghastly failure " might lead the uninitiated to think that no good has resulted from the enterprise of the State in this district, but he will himself .have hardly meant that, for it cannot be denied that the worst that can be said of irrigation is that it is good only in parts,

The intentions of the Minister of Public Works in respect to the Upper Manuherikta scheme have not been disclosed, since the special committee of experts who investigated the possibilities of the project from the allimportant points of view of land quality, water requirements, and engineering difficulties Ims not yet presented its report to him. It is officially recognised, however, that apart from the problem of race construction and

maintenance, which has proved the weak link in the existing scheme in connection, with the Manuherikia River, the undertaking presents no difficulty. It is proposed to draw the water for the additional 100,000 acres of land which the scheme will cover from the same source as has been tapped by the present scheme, the only difference being that supplies will depend upon the erection of storage facilities. The considerations of supply and distribution need cause no concern. Only the question of the cost of the water 1 to the consumer gives reason for pause. It is not improbable that settlers in the country that is to be watered are prepared at the present time, like so many others throughout Central Otago, to burden- themselves with almost any rental as long as they secure the water. With the recollection, however, of the 1928 upheaval still fresh in the mind of the Government, and with the realisation that it has been compelled to' forgo every chance of securing any return whatsoever for its outlay by reason of the five years of reduced rentals which it has conceded to the settlers, it would be strange if it did not exhibit a disinclination to incur further expenditure until the settlements already set up show some sign of .becoming something better than a burden upon the State. It has been stated by a competent authority that no State irrigation project in any part of the world has ever proved profitable to the promoters, so that the New Zealand Government is not to be blamed if it has failed to secure the expected return on the capital expended. Apparently the Chamber of Commerce representatives allowed themselves to be convinced by the pressure of local opinion of the necessity of additional irrigation schemes. Hqd, however, they studied beforehand the report of the 1928 committee they could not have failed to realise the wisdom of the policy that has been laid down by the Government in this respect. That further development work is necessary and desirable in the longer view of irrigation, with the object of the development of this great hinterland, is only too apparent, but it is not unreasonable to counsel delay for some time. To the policy of postponement the Chamber of Commerce has itself subscribed in its attitude to the infinitely vaster Hawea-Wanaka hydro-electric scheme which, it has been estimated, will cover a very much larger area of better land than can be brought in in any other part of Central Otago. Though they must have been impressed with the potentialities of this undertaking, the members of the Chamber had no difficulty in recognising the fact that it belongs to the future. In the matter of the resumption by the Government of the land and water rights of the Cromwell Development Company the Chamber has committed itself to a course which the 1928 committee, after the most exhaustive investigation, considered impracticable, and it may be conjectured that the Minister of Public Works will look rather coldly on a proposal the merits of which were so emphatically discounted by the experts who provided him with the information he possesses on the subject.