UNPRECEDENTED DROUGHT

Taranaki Daily News, 26 August 1930, Page 9

UNPRECEDENTED DROUGHT

ELECTRIC SUPPLY AFFECTED. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Christchurch, Last Night. . Faced with a shortage of electric power through an unprecedented drought in the back country and the consequent fall in the level of Lake Coleridge, the Public Works Department has asked the Christchurch Tramways Board to bring into operation from to-morrow its own steam generating plant, and is appealing to the public for strict economy in the use,of domestic current. The position is not yet serious, but should the present drought continue for the next few weeks the level of the lake may be so reduced that the maximum load at present existing could not be carried. The diversion of the Liver Acheron, which will provide a considerable additional supply of water, is being put in hand immediately. The Tramway Board’s plant has not been used for any length of time since the Lake Coleridge scheme was first completed, but has frequently been in use for one or two days. If the tramway load exceeds 1000 kilowatts, which is the maximum load it can produce, the balance of power will be drawn from Lake Coleridge.