RIVER EROSION IN SOUTHLAND

Southland Times, Issue 23544, 25 June 1938, Page 12

RIVER EROSION IN SOUTHLAND

NEED FOR CONTROL URGED VALUABLE LAND LOST IN FLOODS The need for action in controlling, the rivers of Southland to prevent the loss of valuable country through erosion was brought to the notice of members of local bodies and members 6f Parliament by Mr D. Mcßae, of Dipton, at their annual conference yesterday afternoon.

Mr Mcßae said that valuable land was being washed away by floods, as the gravel piled up in the beds and raised the level of the water. The Waimakariri River Trust in Christchurch had solved the problem of controlling shingle rivers by contracting them into as narrow a bed as possible, so that the shingle would be carried on to the sea by the velocity of the water. Trees were planted on the banks of the Waimakariri and these, it was expected would pay for the work that was done. The Minister of Public Works (the Hon. R. Semple) had promised a deputation of farmers in Invercargill) that something would be done, and he urged that the matter should be treated as one of national importance. He did not think the Public Works Department could do a more valuable work than to protect the land. The country around the Iron Bridge was threatened with destruction in this way, and there were many other parts of Southland threatened in a similar way.

The Mayor (Mr John Miller) said, this was not the first occasion Mr McRae had come before the league on this subject. The matter was being taken up in other parts of New Zealand, but not in Southland, and he thought the Government would do well to begin in this province. He thought they would find the soil of New Zealand miles out at sea.

In reply to the Mayor, the Leader of the Opposition (the Hon. Adam Hamilton) said the Minister had been collecting information on the subject.

Mr Mcßae said the trouble was manmade, and was caused by burning off tussocks, and clearing scrub and bush which held the water in check. The result was that hillsides were slipping all the time.