CLUTHA VALLEY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26479, 5 June 1947, Page 8

CLUTHA VALLEY

DELAY IN TACKLING PROBLEMS

NEED FOR ORGANISATION It was a great pity .that no finality had been reached in an attempt to tackle the problems of the Clutha Valley watershed, said Mr S. Sim in his presidential address to the conference of Farmers yesterday, “ The task ahead is a huge one and the sooner we get on with it the better.” said the president. “It is possibly the magnitude of .the job that has been the cause of the delay. Control of the Clutha and. the rivers of its watershed contain problems unique to this particular area, and to the country, and any< effort to undertake it must presuppose a large measure of Government assistance. The problems range from those of the high country to those of the fertile flais nearer the mouth, but they are a national responsibility and the responsibility of everyone in the watershed.

“ It has been suggested in th'b Daily Times that the best way of doing the job would be to set up an organisation more comprehensive and more autonomous in its constitution, something in the nature of a smaller Tennessee Valley Authority, that would control the river from its source to its mouth, and would also, deal with the many problems such as control of the tributaries. sites,for hydro-electric and irrigation dams, afforestation and the like. Such an idea has much to commend it, as elected members of the various districts working in unison with specialists nominated by the State would be in a position to study tne problem as a whole."