HAWEA IRRIGATION SCHEME.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21362, 16 June 1931, Page 6

HAWEA IRRIGATION SCHEME.

New Zealand possesses boundless stores of energy that await exploitation, and not the least of them is that represented by the great lakes of the Otago hinterland concerning which high hopes have been entertained for many years. The scheme under which it is suggested that use should be made of Lake Hawea for the generation of power and the irrigation of the Upper Clutha Valley is not new. It has already been the subject of more than one investigation as a result of which there would appear to be reasonable grounds for the assumption that great benefit would accrue to Otago from the completion of the project. Apart from the insistent question of the low values ruling for primary produce in the markets of the world, no economic problem is of more vital interest to New Zealand than that of increasing production and making the fullest use of regions that are not, at the present time, contributing to the export trade of the Dominion. New Zealand must depend for many years to come on her broad acres for prosperity and advancement, and any scheme in which is resident the possibility of developing such land as has hitherto lain idle must merit particular attention. Consequently -there is every reason why serious consideration should be given to the idea of harnessing Lake Hawea at its outlet, notwithstanding the fact that economic conditions may, at the moment, be too acute to allow of the immediate fulfilment of what must be, in the most favourable circumstances, a costly undertaking. It was represented to members 'of the Otago Expansion League who visited Central Otago during the week-end that the construction of a dam at the outlet of Lake Hawea would provide for the irrigation of 70,000 acres of land within a radius of 40 miles, the greater part, if not all, of which is at present producing little or nothing. The distribution of the water, it was pointed out, would be done by the common method of gravitation where possible, while the higher levels, up to 300 feet, would be served by pumping installations operated by means of electric power generated at the headworks. Taken at its face value, the proposal seems extraordinarily simple and eminently desirable, and there is no reason why the Government should not accede to the request for a full investigation of it. There are, however, many aspects of cost, construction and the distribution of water which are in danger of being overlooked by too enthusiastic sponsors of the project, and it is conceivable that the land cannot bear the cost of irrigation in these circumstances. Such considerations have to be carefully weighed. It may be conjectured that, profiting by the experience of the Public Works Department in respect of several other irrigation settlements in Central Otago, the Government will not content itself with the views of its engineering experts upon the Hawea scheme. It may be expected to require opinions, also, from agricultural authorities, who will be able to deal with the important problem of the ability of the land to produce under irrigation and at the same time bear the heavy burden of cost which cannot be avoided. The district which would be served by the scheme is fertile and endowed with a salubrious climate. If it has failed to achieve its utmost potentialities in the past it is for reasons that reflect no reproach on the district itself or its settlers. Though graciously favoured in other ways, it has suffered from an insufficient rainfall. This lack would be removed by irrigation, which has already swelled the tide of growth and development in Central Otago to a point at which it cannot be stemmed by any imaginable ebb in the national prosperity.