WATER STORAGE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22567, 10 May 1935, Page 10

WATER STORAGE

EARNSCLEUGH IRRIGATION SCHEME NEW DAM TO BE BUILT FACILITIES FOR MINING For the past two years the Public Works Department has had under consideration a proposal to supplement the Earnscleugh irrigation scheme, and, as a result of representations by the Minister of Public Works (Mr J. Bitchener), Cabinet has now approved the construction of a concrete arch dam on the Fraser River, about 10 miles from Clyde. There is at present an area of nearly 2000 acres dependent on the Earnscleugh scheme, which supplies 44 holdings, and the proposed extension, when completed, will eliminate the possibility of the water supply falling off during drought periods and will also provide for the irrigation of an increased area. The construction of the dam, which will be 80 feet in height, will be commenced, it is anticipated, almost immediately. With a view to relieving the unemployment position, the Unemployment Board will find a portion of the cost, which will be in the neighbourhood of £45,000, and it is* expected that the work will give employment on full time to 60 or 70 men. In an interview by telephone with a Daily Times reporter last night, Mr W. A. Bodkin, M.P., stated that the new dam would command the whole of the Earnscleugh flat in the neighbourhood of Clyde, and would provide 15 heads of water for mining purposes on the banks of the Molyneux River. "It will open up an important field for mining," he added, " and will enable sluicing operations, sufficient to provide work for 30 men, to be carried out." The dam would make available a permanent and adequate supply of water for land now irrigated, as well as for that portion of the Earnscleugh Flat which had not been under irrigation. The location of the dam would be at Shepherds' Flat, in the Cairnmuir mountains.