TAIERI DRAINAGE COM MISSION.

Otago Witness, Issue 2719, 25 April 1906, Page 24

TAIERI DRAINAGE COM MISSION.

A THEC -COMMISSIONS' PUBLIC PRO- * •_* CEEDINGS' CLOSED. ' 'y i.'\ Tmnn Day— Wbdkb'scat. -"-_ 'J*he Taiftri Drainage- Commission resumed ~-*ts sittings on Wednesday at H-enley; pre- - >ent— Messrs D. Barrjn (chairman). G. Druickshank, W. S. Short", and' E. R. Ussher. „ _ - „ . _ Robert Robinson, jun., chairman of the Henley River Board, and also chairman of -the Berwick Drainage Board, said that .Lake Waipori was very; much silted up, and required dredging. Tliafc would giv3 c. . fall for the watery- s At -present much of ihe wafer had no- direct ,. outlet., and the Henley people^ were saddled -with the expenseSgal (jetting it out, the best way- they f collides Some of the head waters ought to be- cut oft and taken, into the river. "The ivatar new running. -down Duck Creek . should be conveyed into the river about -Allanton,- or higher up. Tn any scheme - there .-must be some dredging carried out en ■ the lake. He did not favour the amalgac tuaiknt-.0l East .and W|esfe- Taieri: their ,_ interests were jiot common. Alt- tha district- -on ,the west should be under one j "drainage board. The Rivar Bosrd seemed -"to conduct ,its business t fairly., well,, s and..; -liiighfbe' left alone. "* He. liked Mr "Reid's ,-Jotaa -to .erect, floodgates near the mouth of i "the" rivnr, but .he would like .to know suvbere the money was to come from- for the /work.. ,;",, . - , f£j. .. • * J&nes Miller urged tEat something .should -,-be T'dorie -to improve the outlet of ', Lee '• / Cr^ek into Lake Waipori. A storm- chan- : nel; alon,j the foot . of the hills .to catch ;- tb<\ water" from the hills between Wdod--eide. and Outram would v be a good plan, the; channel to be carried " into the river at "Outram. If it was kept high enoueh -it would not affect the river banks. He •would object to all the head waters being eenfc-. into l^ee Creek, because the channel. ,'eveji if dredged, would not be able to hold .-at ip flood time. Lake Waipori had trapped " the^.sili for many year 3, and had filled up "'consKtewbly, especially sine; the dredg'ng -tra-s started at Waipori. The dredging ' of a channel in the lake was the best v ay -to cope with the water. He thought if • a central drain down the plain were made, seme of the lower lands migh; suffer. There "-would ive a deal of friction if one drain- . .age board haJ control of both sices of the , liver, us their interests were not alike. ,'lt misdii be advisable to cut the district -up into ridings. There was local jealousy ;. 'between «ist and west tiiat was carried -"^rather far at times. He favoured the f>f flood-satos near the mouth of--,xbe< river, though lie wns afraid of the cost. Be^ did: "riot" know w&af effect the scheme twnuld. have on the silt in the river. ".,, Joseph Allan, farmer, explained the of the sojith part, of the plain, and j > advocated that in addition "to clearing out .jEeft'- Creek, the water at the top of the ;'-nlatn\ -should be turned into that creek. of Lake Waipori should- also be" Jidreilged out. He' also favoured a cut i ; riqwn- - the plains turning off into- .the river ,_at fjrjsquenfc fntervals, and pumpinjr if neces'^saryr He supported, .to a certain extent, -■ihe' block, system of drainage. He re--_par3ed Mr Donald Reid's scheme of a '-cam, near the mouth of the river as all " r inoonshme. Sometimes the river came rdow'n &s thick as rcea soup, and if the cur- ; 'rent was stopped, the bed of the riveT

would be full in no time. It was not fe&sible at present, he thought, to amalgamate East Taieri and West Taieri. A dam in the Upper Taieri district would stop a great deal of the flood water, which j came down quicker now that Taieri Lake ' had silted up. He would not favour the | County Council having control of the draini age. The council had had something to 1 do with West Taieri already, and had made, a muddle of it. Alfred Ward, manager of the Berkeley Estate, said the company carried out all it 3 own drainage operations, over about i 1700 acres. Ho woo-'d like to see ti.e block system established, and a channel dredged in Lake Waipori to take the water that came off the mountains. Lee Creek ought to take the water that properly belonged to it. Each block ought to pay ite own rates and do its own pumping and . draining 1 . If the proposed main drain • were taken down the centre of the plain, it would ruin many of the farms at- the lower end. And who was to pay for it, cr f.for any damage it did? If a central chanf nei was it should discharge into the lake. 1 Francis E. M'Lean said he drained his own land, and that of several neighbours, pumping the water into Lee Creek. He worked inde,?endently of the Maungatua .Drainage Boa/d. He supported the block system. If there was a pump on each block, the water could be controlled, and with the electric power that would coon be available there would not be much .trouble., in working the pumps. In order ti work the system four or five pumping plants would be required. It was only a -question of putting on large enough engines and rfey could keep the land dry. A 'pump was wanted that would put the water out at nny time, whether the river wns high or low. If a race were carried along the foot of the • hili and taken into the river near Outram, afc a high point, that water would not have to Travel down the plain all the way in Lee Creek. He would not favour the whole plain being mad© into one drainage and river disfcript. A suitable- board of control for the drainage of the plain would be six settlers and two or three Government nominees. Thomas Craizie, Alev. Thomson. Alexander Mitchell. David M'Kenzie, and Amos M'Kegjt o!6o gav-e evidence. The Seccetary (Mr F. J. Mouat^ reatl tl;<> following letter, addressed to the charrm&n. from Mr Donald R<i;d. M.H.R.. written from Queenstown on the 6th April: — Private business will prevent my attending the sittings of the commission until after the Easter holidays. lam pleased to see that the commission is to liave the assistance of Mt E. R. Ussher as one of the commissioners, as I feel sure his presence will help to elucidate the necessary engineering facts, and that he will be- of great assi-t?nce to the commission, in its decisions thereon. As regards the I problem of drainage, it seems to me -entirely an engineering one. There are, however, some general faot3 that reqture to be settled aa matters of policy. They are : — 1. Are the drainage area or areas to he placed under the control of one board or of more? There seems to be a- general consensus of opinion that all the West Taieri drainage matters should be trader the control of one board so that a scheme- can be devised for the benefit of the whole. Any difference of benefit accruing to the various lands included' in the area due to the relative levels and to their liability to damage from flood would, I presume, be equalised by a differential | rating of the parties affeot-ed. There seem.3 ! to bs a diversity of opinion as to whether the East Taien disrtnet, which is liable to floods,

1 ehould also bs included in the area. This seems to me a question for the decision of the commission after hearing the evidence. The West Taieri district being banked off from . the East Taieri ai the expense of lands on the West Taieri side would seem to point to I the probability of a separa-te board being 1 able to act for masters on the Eaat Taieri side •without in any way prejudicing the work oi the West Taieri Board and with more satisfaction -to the landowners on the East Taieri side. Whether the action of two independent boards ■will prejudice tie working of a proper scheme I of drainage is an engineering question, a-nd will probably receive due attention in the commissioners' report. 2. Each of the drainage districts at present j in existence has spent more or loss money ! on their individual schemes. The apportionment of the liabilities at present in existence, and how they should he liquidated, is also, I presume, within the scope of the commission's reference. Each district is at present liable for its own debts, and unless there are good reasons to the coniraary will, I presume remain liable under the n&w extended district. 3 R&ference lias been made to a suggestion by me of a tidal wall wifh sluice gates designed to )et out the river water and prevent the inflow of tidal water. I may say , tha/t this scheme was referred to in a former report made upon Taieri drainage by Messrs Higginson, Blair, Beli, and «,rjoth<sr, and wa* a suggestion by the late Mr'E. B. Oargill. It was condemned in that report, but the reasons given do not seem io mo io justify the condemnation. I understand such schemes to preven/t tidal action robbing a large area of agricultural land of its drainage fall by the , ri&e of the tide a* long way inland are common a-!l over Grea* Britain. That such a sckenj© when oairried out xvas condemned in one place does not surely justify its condemnation, in thy» case of the Taieri unless the circumstances are similar. If the drainage exits a.bove th« Taieri bridge can bo k&pt at ebb tide level, then it seems clear that more than one-half of the present drainage difficulty will be at once removed. It is surely much easier to shut out the tide and get rid of tho water by gravity than by expensive schemes of pumping, provided the coat is not out of all proportion to the benefit. The engineering questions involved are whether the tidal wall will effect the desired object, and what will be the oast It seems to me that the dead water caused twice in each- day by the tide a® far inland as Allanton must caosa a settlement •of the travelling shingle and silt brought down during the period of dead waiter. Whether thi3 deposit will again travel when the tide ebbs I do not know. Perhaps if not, a flood would scour it out, but if it does, then the bed of the river must h& constantly rising. If it was deaired to retain the silt, etc., which might be advisable in the case of Lake Waipori, i£ it is desired to reclaim it, no doubit this could be done. But with a low level at Taieri bridge the constant outflow of waiter from the Waipori River must' keep the channel clear. If the wall can -also be utilised as a bridge across tKe Taieri the expense would to that extent hs com.pensa.ted. As- I have said, the scheme is entirely an engineering orre, but seems well - worth the serious consideration of th» commission, and on.» on which, .a epeciaL report^ going fully into particulars, be procured by the commission. ' \ ' Neil- Ross, who has been resident in the Maungatua Riding for 40 years, said that Lee Creek ought to bfe dredged out from Mr M'Lean'6 property to the lake. He did not think that all the head waters of the creek ought to be brought into it again. A channel should be made in th*» lake +t> let the water get away. John Stevenson again appeared before the commission, and expressed his disapproval of the proposal to make a central - drain down the plain. To rush the water down on the people in the lower plain and destroy the grounds they had drained was* an imposition on them. Those who were advocating such a scheme should be liable for any damage that Tegulted. The commission, adouxned to meet at Mosgiel next morning. Fourth Day— Thursday. The sittings of the Taieri Drainage Commission were resumed on Thursday at Mosgiel, when there were present— Messrs D. Barron (chairman), E. R. Ussher, G. Cruickshank. S.M., and W. S. Short. Charles Findlay, farmer, on the northwest side of Silverstream. near Mosgiel, said that Silverstream did not affect him in any way at all. The was cut and the embankment raised before his time, but he had learned from his father that at one time the water used to run all over the place. He was not interested in any drainage scheme, for floods did not affect settlers in the North Taieri. The settlers there had had their difficulties in the past, and had overcome them ; and if the settlers in the lower part of the plain had worked with the same energy they, too, might have been in the same position to-day. He would oppose being included in a drainage district. Very little shingle was now coming down in the stream at flood time from the North Taieri lands. A good deal used to be washed down at one time, but the channel' was now well confined, and bnt little material was washed away. From what he remembered of the district in the early days there was no connection between 'Silverstream and Owhiro Creek. W. R. Gawn said he did not require any drainage scheme, being of the same opinion as Mr Findlay. If in a big flood the water did come on to their properties, there was so much fall that it would all be away in a few hours. In any drainage district formed no land north and east of the Mosgiel -Outram road should be included. Mosgiel Township was not subject to floods. From what h© had heard i he had no doubt that if the settlers on the lower part of the plain had an outlet and then saw to the streams and cleaned them out, they might have helped themselves greatly. John Andrew, a resident in the North Taieri district for 48 years, said that in 1858 Silverstream, after it came down below what was called the '" black bridge," near McGregor's, had no course at all, but wandered north and south amonprst the tussocks. It was a perfect swamp, through which one could not go. v The water- used to spread across nearly to the Mosgiel Factory road, and' from ther© it went through the north-west side of the township. He never knew the Silverstream water run into the Owhiro. He had no i knowledge of the stream being diverted j from the Owhiro. What the settlers did was to fence their sections right through, • and each settler out a 6ft ditch on his side ' of the fence. That made a broad channel , in which the water was confined. The channel in which Silverstream now flowed was along the line of the fences he had. referred to. There was originally no fixed course. Above the beginning of the channel, he believed, about a dozen settlers one night cut a lot of " maori heads" and.

i tussocks, and when the next flood came '. these were washed away and~*]~a water > course established. Since that time there i had been no bother over floods in that locality. He had no need for a drainage • district. "* C James Gow gave corroborative evidence ' regarding Silverstream having once run f out over the ( plain from Factory road to Duke's road. % Very little shingle, if any, was brought down now from the channel ! on the settlers' places. The shingle that | was from time-to time deposited near Mos- ■ giel came, he thought, from above the bridge. He should very much object to be included in a drainaere district. The ' land where he was was very dry as a rule in an ordinary season, and it would be ' quite as fair to ask the people lower down : to contribute towards the irrigation of that land in dry seasons as to ask the settlers ' there to assist in the draining of the lower | lands. The factory side of the Mosgiel- ; Outram road would perhaps be a fair flood-area boundary, and on the other side the railway line as far as Allanton. He ; did not think Mosgiel should be included ' in any drainage district constituted. The '.' portion north-west of Factory road might '. be included, but that portion south-east \ -of Factory road should not be included. \ ' The Owhiro Creek might very slightly , flood the township down near the station. , Robert Gibson, chairman of the Taieri \ County Council*, corroborated previous cvi- , dence as to Silverstream always having been ■■ distinct from Owhiro Creek. The gravel , bei-ng deposited near Mosgiel' came, he thoug-hfc, from the water-supply land of tho t Corporation of Dunedin. Gravel coming from the North Taieri settlers' lands was now a thing of the past. The County Coun- ; cil had been asked tp assist the settlers in I the lower par(s of *the district, but had declined. The settlers had simply omitted ; tp keep their channels clear. If they had done what those higher up did 7 they i would not be in their pre&ent position. In the East Taieri there was need for some form of drainage board, but the district should not include the lands up towards the hills. The boundaries of the distrioo might be the Mosgiel-Outram road on the < north and west sides, and the Main Soutu railway on the other. He did favour amalgamating the cast and west sides of the i river into one drainage district, as they • had nothing in common. He would not , favour the matter being put into the hands j ■ j of the County Council to control. } John Smith Fleming. West Taieri, ancl ex-chairman of the Otokia Drainage Board, ' was of opinion that the water which came I down from N6rth Taieri should be cut off _ above Outram, and diverted into- the river, j | Waipoxi Lake should be abandoned as an i ( outlet,, and the wa'ier taken by a straight j cut to the Maori Kaik at Henley. That j ', would have the effect of giving settlers on J , the west side of Lac Creek a fall into Lee- j Creek. Another channel should also, be j j cut to Maori Kaik right through the centre jof the plain. At the fcaik he would get_ ; lid of the water at flood times by means ,of powerful pumps. He was absolutely op- ; pesed to the blocks system of drainage. D. T.,Slland (recalled) said lie would r-ofc have expected that the who rad given evidence that, day would have agreed } to the boundaries of the drainage district he had suggested. When those witnesses' said that they had got rid of the water en their lands, they did not say that they l^d : l^eeived £2000 from the Provincial Govovnj ment for the purpose. The two 6ft drains • were not for the purpose of forming a , fence, bub were for the purpose o£ diverting j , the stream. They did not tell the com- j j mission either that they did these things j •in the night. It might be true that gravol i was not coming down from their lands now, but what about all that which had been deposited in the stream in the past? j The channel from Ricearto^ road was full of gravel, and the settlers responsible for it feeing there should contribute towards ite removal. The County Council ha<i offered to assist them on the subsidy principle, but they withdrew their offer when the settlers raisad so large a sum as £500 He did mot approve of one board for the J whole plain. It would be better to have [ separate beards for East ancl West Taieri. j He agreed with Mr Fleming as to the , taking of two channels to about the kaik. j Alexander Souness, member of the Otofcla I Drainage Board, in his evidence, suggested I that the upper waters should be sent into Lee Creak, and tho creek diverted along the back of Lake Waipori into the river at the kaik : and also to make a cut acrois the centre of tho plain, and set rid of tho water with pumps. He favoured two boards. One objection to Mr Reid's tidaj wall was that the river would silt up. Tho tide acted as a scour. But for this defect the^tidal wall would be a good thing for the plain. The commission adjourned, to meet at Dunedin next day.

EVIDENCE IN DUNEDIN. A .sitting of the Taieri Drainage Commission was held in the Land Board Room, Post Office Buildings, on Fridays- present — Messrs D. Barron (chairman). W. S. Short, E. R. Ussher, and G. Cruickshank, S.M. Robert Hay, civil enprineer, detailed certain embankment works carried out on | , the Taieri Plain on his advice. In the I , West Taieri district the system he adopted > was a main arterial drain, with openings into the river at different places. The whole of the scheme was practically a gravitation scheme ; ther© was no pumping. The general idea was to let each block, as far as possible, drain its own water in times of ordinary weather. In times of flood the excess would have, to pass on and get out at the lower openings. It could get out easier at the lower openings than higher up. The openings were all fitted with flood-gates to keep cut the tidal water. At one time there was a question about the water coming down from Maungatua. There was a proposal to divert that water ; ffiit was the head water of what was known as Grant's Creek. Some creeks coming down from [ Maungatua originally discharged into Lee , Creek, but about 40 years ago there were ! , two cuts made, and that water was turned into G-rantV Creek. In times of flood 1 j a large quantity of water that came down i there and flowed over the plain originally J j went into Lee Creek. The water was now brought from. Grant's Creek into Moyni- | han's Creek, and down that creek to the s dam -and into Duck Creek. The water ] wou!3 have found its way down th» i t channel if witness had not cut the channel , ] into Duck Creek. In the past the drain- : c age of the plain ' had been carried out ' i in a piecemeal fashion ; each district car- | ried on its own works to suit its own district. If witness had been consulted 1 years ago about a scheme for the whole < plain he should have advised that, as far 1 as possible, the water should be got rid of s

at as earl'/ V3"cge as- possible, either by gravitation tr by pumping. ' Originally, pumps were not used. The ioan of £3000 would not permit of anything like that. At present all the water from the higher \ sourtos ought to be kept off the plain, ' and the upper waters of the Lee and of ! Grant's Creek should be taken into Lee : Creek, not into th& river. It would be a I big contract to make a storm-water channel { to carry all the head waters of Lee Creek and emnty them into v the river about Outram. Lee Creek should be straightened and widened where necessary in order toi carry more water. He had not considered ! the scheme of carrying a main drain right down the centre of the plain. At the first glance it' did not appear to him to be the proper scheme. The earlier they could get rid of water flowing over lowlying land the better. Th& question of impounding water considerably higher up than the plain, with the object of reduc- '. ing the volume of water that went through. ! the Taieri Gorge, was a large one-, and > he would not give an opinion on it off- ; hand. The scheme would no donbt be of i advantage, bnt whether it would, be an j advantage commensurate to the' expenditure, which would be large, ho did not , know. 3"he drawback to a scheme of the : kind was -the accumulation of silt and ! gravel in 'the danas^ He did not thinlc~ | that East 'faieri and West Taieri should r be formed into one The interests ; of thte districts were different. The .trouble ! in East Taieri was practically the SilverS stream, and on the other side it was really i a matter of ordinary drainage. Totally- | different works were required on the two^ •' sides. It would be a good plan ta set , up a board composed of representatives ! from East: Taieri and West Taieri, with two or three Government nominees. Witness had no opinion to offer on M*' Donald Re-id's scheme of flood-gates at the mouth of the river. Edward Roberts, civil engineer, expressed the opinion that the Taieri River • and the Waipori River should be straight- ' ened as much as possible. As for the Taieri. it might be advisable in some , places to take a new course. In one- of I Air Carruthers's reports it was stated that in flood time the water took a course of its own. A statement of that sort ought ! to be, investigated, and if found practicable ! a channel might be made along the low | ground, so as to make it more 1 direct. I The Chairman : You would leave the present course of the river, and take it flLongr ' the lowest part of the plain?— Yes. There are so many bends in the river at present t that it interferes with the free. flow of theriv.e.r. The main thing, to my mind, is to deai with the floods — to provide a channel of sufficient area to carry away the flood waiter. -If you can v keep the TaierL River . off the plain the rest of the drainage could: [ be done by pumping. Witness, continuing, said he was T not. suf&cientlv . acquainted with the ' levels ' to "know whether it was practicable to' make a drain "down the of the plain. „It might Be practicable 1 ,, especially with, p.tunpr ing operations.. He had. no. other suggea-, tions to make. He -had upLgonefOver tfierr plain carefully. He had only r formed 1 ! general ideasr after a visit to different parts of the ' plain.. Ac for a- dam afc thetuoirth of the river, l;e would be against interfering witb anything at the mouth of | the river. It was hard to say what effect it would have ou the bar outside, and in cass of flood any obstruction at the mouth. ! might cause trouble. If dams, were made high up the river they might fill up in time with shingle and. gravel. Afc the same time v these dams would' be useful' for irrigation purposes. The control of the plain should be in the hands of one board, both for the liver and for. the drainage-. This board would be in a position- to employ a first-class man to ca-rry out a comprehensive scheme. Herbert Valpy Fulton, the next witness called, said that Leo Creek rose and fell " very quickly. He thought the trouble down the stream was largely caused by the silting up of the Waipori River. He had 1 been on the Taieri Plain off amd on all' his life, and thought if the Waipori wds straightened it would help the drainage of the Taieri very much, especially thai; part which drained into Lee Creek. He approved of the head waters of Leo Creek being taken down the proposed channel through the centre of the plain. He thought the Outram-Berwick road would be a fair boundary on that side for the drainage district, and also that there, should be two drainage boards—one for the east and one for the west sides of tb&river. Walter Blackie said that in his opinion the cut into the river was wliat had chiefly affected Silverstream. Very little wafer now ran through the old bed, whilst the new cut was -now as large as the Taieri River. In times of flood mare water; eam«from, the river through the cut than from - the Silverstream iiself. If the stream was diverted through Shand's property it would* be necessary to bank the Taieri from'Carmichael's to Kirkland's to close the cut: The most feasible thing was to cleans out the Silverstream bed. Personally, he would be benefited by the diversion through Shand's, but it would be dangerous to the district as a whole. There should be one drainage district including the whole plain. The County Council might be given tlio control of the drainage works after they had been completed. John Loudon, representing the NationalMortgage and Agency Company, owners of Henley estate, said that his company's property had been getting gradually wetter for the past 10 years, and he believed that was in consequence of Waipori Lake and Lee Stream Silting 1 up. In his opinion. Lee Creek and the bed of Waipori Lake should bo deepened. The drainage works that had been carried out were useless so far as the company's lower sections were concerned, and, as regards the higher sections, they were wetter than they had ever been before, and there was great difficulty in getting crops or grass to grow. The onljj remedy was a comprehensive scheme with' one authority for the whole district's drainage. He had not considered the? possibility of a central channel going through' : the Henley estate, but if kept deep enough ifc would doubtless benefit the higher sections. Very strong pumping power would be required. River floods were not their trouble, but the continual wet. There' should be one drainage authority for thePlain, and the district should- extend up, • as far as the foot-hills, and the low-lying- • lands in Bruce county should also be in- " eluded. As to Mr Reid's scheme, he wasnot sure that the difficulty in the lower part of the- plain was due to tidal effect. Mr G. M. Barr, C.E., in the course of liis evidence, said that ho was still of the opinion ' he expressed before the Otaffo Institute in 1872, that reservoirs for tha, itorage of the water up in th© interior was

• satisfactory solution of the difficulty in regard to'j the 'drainage/ of . TAIERI ANNIVERCITY OF 'the*'cost would 'be he could hot say without making examination, but thought it should not exceed £40,000. As for direct drainage, he strongly favoured pumping as against a tidal lock scheme. Charles Eindlay, re-examined, said that Mr Shahd was in error on the previous day in stating that the Silverstream channel, cut through his father's and others' properties on the north side of the Mosgiel-Outram road, iWas made out of public money. The £2000 which Mr Shand referred to was all expended on" the channel between the river and the Mosgiel-Outram road, and he said that the channel was made at the settlers' expense. Donald Reid, jun., M.H.R., gave evidence •which", in the main, bore out what others had said regarding the serious effects from the creek waters overflowing as against the river only; The question as to whether there should be one or two 'boards was one' for the-" committee to decide, but personally he believed it would be better to have one board and one engineer. It there was only one board there should be three Government- nominees in* it. It w&3 a sound ; principle that .th? rating of the drainage district should be on area and not on' value; but it was a matter that required very careful consideration. -.The Hon: George' M'Lean attended at * then'request of the commission, but declined to -give evidence, preferring, as a member of the" Legislative Council, not to commit himself to any particular, side, so that ■when the matter came before him — as it would, in his Tariiainentary capacity — te would have an open mind upon it. He, however, gave the commission some valuable local "information. This concluded th» sittings of the commission, so far as the taking of evidence is concerned. The commission will sit this week for the purpose of considering the evidence and drawing up its report.