CENTRAL OTAGO IRRIGATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 3885, 28 August 1928, Page 28

CENTRAL OTAGO IRRIGATION.

COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY. REPORT ALMOST COMPLETED. The first official intimation as to when the report of the Irrigation Committee on its investigations in Central Otago is likely to be ready for presentation to the Prime Minister was made by the chairman (Mr C. J. M’Kenzie) to a deputation from the Otago Expansion League which waited on the committee. Mr M’Kenzie said that he could give them no indication of the contents of the report, the preparation of which had_ been hindered by the serious illness of one of the members of the committee, Mr R. A. Rodger. It had been expected that the report would have been completed long before this, but he could now say that it would be finished in two or three days, and forwarded to the Government. When the settlers saw the report they would realise that a great deal of painstaking care and thoroughness had been expended on its compilation and on the collection of the necessary data. Of course, the committee could not expect to please everybody concerned, but he could assure them that the recommendations and suggestions embodied in the 1-eport, if put into effect, would result in the alleviation of a great deal of the hardship and difficulty under which the settlers in the various districts had been working. The deputation from the Expansion League, which consisted of Messrs S. B. Macdonald (president), G. Errington, and W. B. Steel (secretary), sought an audience to place the views of the league on the subject of irrigation in Central Otago before the committee. The members of the committee present were: —The chairman and Messrs R. B. Tennent, J. George, J. Ritchie, and M. Maginnis. Mr Macdonald addressed the meeting at considerable length on the matters which the league considered should be made, the subject of particular consideration in the compilation of the report. The speaker commenced by thanking the committee for the opportunity it had provided for the league's representatives to make their views known. No public bodv, he said, realised more clearly than his Teague the extent of the good that irrigation would accomplish for Central Otago, and the benefits that would accrue from its proper administration, not only as far as Otago was concerned, but for the whole Dominion. From its inauguration the league had concerned itself most actively with furthering the interests of Central Otago settlers, and it was with feelings of pride that they looked upon the successful development of what were once waste and barren lands. While in the past they had viewed with satisfaction the steady progress which had been made in the development of Central Otago, latterly the league had been constrained in its praise of the Government’s efforts, realising that a state of affairs was eventuating which, if allowed to proceed unchecked, would do much to seriously retard the successful settlement of what should have been one of the most productive areas in the Dominion. He did not wish to detail the events which had led to th&- appointment of the committee, but the leagu was satisfied that its urgent requests to the Government were timely, and its executive was content to await the publication of the committee’s report to see if the demand for an inquiry had been warranted.

No doubt, he said, the committee had interviewed most of the settlers, but the league felt that it would be failing in its duty to Otago as a whole if it did not enumerate some of the factors which it considered vital. To-day on the Government schemes a gross water rate ranging from 10s per acre in Ida Valley to fl per acre on the Arrowtown scheme was in operation. The quantity of water which was allowed to each acre of land varied from 18 inches or less to 24 inches. It must have struck the committee that while some schemes could probably stand a charge of 10s or 15s per acre, others could not. What the league wanted it to consider was the fact that the land should be classified according to its productive value, location, ease of watering, and character of soil. A charge for the water should then be made from those viewpoints, .and that charge . should be such that a farmer would have a fair chance of making a reasonable living. Similarly with the quantity of water supplied, some land might have an ample supplv, but in regard to other lands the supply would perhaps be hopelessly inadequate. The league was of the opinion that in many cases both the rate charged for water and the quantity of water supplied to the farmers required drastic revision. In Ida Vallej*, continued Mr Macdonald, considerable damage was resulting from lack of drainage, and one had only to drive up the valley to see the tremendous damage which was resulting from overirrigation and lack of drainage- In the lower portions of the valley particularly, a considerable acreage of fertile ground was being rapidly ruined through the lack of an outlet for the excess water from the higher levels. It appeared to the league that it was incumbent upon the Government to clean the Poolburn stream and straighten its course, thus giving surplus water a free run. This the league considered should be a charge upon the Government and not on the settlers. Where an irrigation scheme was commenced all care should be taken to see that perfect drainage was afforded. This could only be regarded as sound practice, for the practices of irrigation and drainage are complementary. The league therefore strongly recommended the committee to submit recommendations which would undo the havoc which had been wrought in Ida Valley, and prevent similar damage from taking place in other schemes. The league was not satisfied, he continued, that the present administration of the schemes in operation was to the best advantage. While it realised that wisdom could only come by experience, and that irrigation was practically a new venture in New Zealand, it felt that the Public Works Department had not administered the schemes well. In many cases, particularly in the Manuherikia and Arrowtown schemes, races had been constructed to irrigate land which was not worth irrigating. It was nothing short of criminal to ask men to settle on some of ’ the small areas of the light gravelly

soils which had recently been settled. In those hungry lands, even with the quantity of water doubled, at no charge whatever, men would have difficulty in making a living. The Department of Agriculture, he thought, should play a more important part in the selection of irrigable country, and its experts should be more closely connected with the administration of the different schemes. Too much was left to the engineer. He was expected to be a farmer as well as an engineer, and avoidable mistakes naturally resulted. Cooperation the Public Works Department and the farmer was practically non-existant, and in many instances bitter relations existed where all should be harmony. The formation of a central irrigation board in an advisory capacity to the Government would assist materially in breaking down the prejudice existing today between the department and the' settlers. The league hoped that the committee would give the fullest consideration to the present administration. There are many other points, he said, which the league could bring before the committee for consideration, but he, as president, fully realised that these matters had been dealt with adequately on the committee’s prolonged visit of investigation in Central Otago. The points which had been outlined constituted the crux of affairs which would make or mar Central Otago. He hoped that the committee would be of the same opinion in these vital points as was the league. He had noticed with satisfaction the painstaking manner in which they had undertaken their investigations, and, on behalf of the settlers whom the league represented, he wished to thank the comu.ittee for the thorough and sympathetic manner in which it had done its work.

The chairman thanked the deputation for the way it had presented its views, and promised that they would leeeive every consideration from the committee, after which the deputation withdrew.