FLOOD MENACE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23894, 23 August 1939, Page 10

FLOOD MENACE

PARETAI UNDER WATER MOLYNEUX OUTLET BLOCKED URGENT NEED FOR RELIEF FEARS OF EARLY THAW AND DISASTER Fears that their land will be overwhelmed by a flood of a magnitude to rajtik with that of the historical 1878 visitation are held by farmers along the lower reaches of the Molyneux River. And. judged by the observations of an Otago Daily Times reporter yesterday, there is ample justification for such /ears. The southern of the two outlets of the Molyneux (the Koau branch) has become so effectively blocked by a huge, recently-developed sand bar that only a paltry stream connects New Zealand's biggest river with the sea. The consequence is that there is no drainage for the fiat Jands of Paretai, and that already something near 1400 acres of cultivation is lying under.water. The depth varies up to about 18 inches, and it was estimated yesterday that the water on the fiat was gaining at the rate of two inches every 24 hours. The position is more than serious. It is becoming desperate. As much stock as possible has been shifted to higher grazing, and feed is being transported. Of course, there have been losses, but they are not yet serious. That is an emergency that could be overcome if it were not accompanied by other threats. But the vicious storms of the past month or two have mutilated the sea front to such an extent that the protecting ./ Piciures showing the plight of '' settlers in the Paretai district, where about 1400 acres of cultivated land are inundated through a recently-developed huge sand bank almost blocking the mouth of the Koau branch of the Molyneux River and forcing much of the water over a rich area of flat land, will bo foimd on page 4. sandhills have been flattened and the sea has swept over on to the flat. Big areas of pasture and turnips are therefore struggling against a mixture of fresh and sea water, and at least one agricultural expert gave his opinion that the experience will not only rot the turnips but will also have a most detrimental effect on pastures. Even if the position is righted immediately, a considerable amount, of damage will have been done. That in itself is a highly serious matter for the Crown tenants who occupy all but about 300 acres of the flooded land. The real menace, however, is that spring rains and a thaw will set in before an adequate outlet is again found by. or made for the Molyneux. "If we get a Molyneux flood on top of this, it will be even worse than the 1878 flood," a settler with long experience of the river said. "Some of us have had stock shifted for three weeks already and have to cart feed every day. Cows are calving and the milk that the calves do not take is just being milked on to the ground. Think of the cost of grazing charges, feed, and transport, add to it revenue that is being lost, and you can reckon what it is costing us immediately and quite apart from the loss of crops and damage to pastures." Cause of the Flooding The cause of all the flooding was very apparent to anyone who trudged along the foreshore to the Molyneux outlet. The waters of the Puerua stream, which are normally taken away by the Molyneux, havp spread all over the stream's district, and lying along the back of what remains of the sandhills there is just one big sheet of flood. It starts from the edge of the original Molyneux outlet, at the extreme south end of the beach, and keeps on spreading as far as can be seen from the beach. Until a few months ago the Molynetix's southern outlet was about a mile and a-half from the south end of the beach and five or six chains in width. The rapid growth of the sandbank turned the river at right angles, and when the former outlet was completely blocked by a bar a good. 10 feet high, it was forced fully 400 to 500 yards farther north before it could find a shallow path to the sea not nearly one chain in width. Whose Responsibility? It is obvious that the river will have to be given artificial assistance very quickly; but the difficulty apparents is that nobody accepts responsibility, for such an undertaking. Whether or not the responsibility will eventually fall on the Public Works Department remains to be seen, and the Public Works engineer for Otago and Southland (Mr P. Keller), who spent yesterday afternoon examining the flooded foreshore in company with the engineer to the Lower Clutha River Trust (Mr A. J. McD. Millar) and the Otago commissioner of Crown lands (Mr W. E. Shaw), was able to say only that the department had not yet decided upon its policy. A lot of interest was taken in the Official visit by settlers, several of whom left pumping operations on their properties to give the engineers what information they could. Opinions on the method most likely to give immediate and permanent relief were divided. Some advocated the cutting of a channel back on the site of the original outlet, through the firm land against the hillside, some urged that a fresh passage should be blasted where the river is at present running out, and a third opinion was that the natural outlet was still half a mile farther to the north and that a cut there would start the river through a permanent passage. The objection to the-second suggestion was that it would not be a permanent cure since the bank would only fill up again and cause the same troubUe •11 over again. Whatever method is accepted and whoever has to shoulder the responsibility, the need for action quickly is too apparent to need emphasis. Three pumping machines were in operation yesterday, but they could not be ' expected to achieve an: noticeable results. There appeared to be nothing that the settlers could do until a satisfactory outlet is made.

" Here is a chance for Mr Semple and his bull-dozers," one man commented. " The Government can spend huge sums of money on public works, and if this is not a job that justifies Government expenditure, then there never was one. If somebody does not get a move on we will have a thaw up country, a Molyneux flood, and something down here far worse than the 1878 flood. Are we supposed to paddle about and hope that the river fixes itself and there is no Molyneux flood in the meantime? " The fact is that there are still vast quantities of snow in the high country. A real thaw has not started yet, but warm rains any time now would be sufficient to start it off. All of the land from the foreshore right in to Balclutha is very low lying, and Balclutha itself is only 20 feet above sea level. Without a doubt, there is reason to fear the Molyneux in its present frame of mind.