WATER POWER

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 14324, 14 October 1910, Page 6

WATER POWER

PUBLIC WORKS PROJECTS. CANTERBURY'S SHARE. LAKE COLERIDGE SCHEME. Tn the House of Representatives on W>;dii-2stlay night, Sir J. G. Ward moved the s&eond reading of the Aid to Water Power Works Biil, and outlined the proposals for developing water power, lor which the Hill proposes to borrow £500,000 annually. The l'rims said that the Government intended to develop lvaituuli, Wairoa, Lake Coleridge, Teviot-, Jlnuroto Lake, Makiiri and West Coast. The Lake Coleridge sche;.-.c would «ervs Canterbury between Tuuurii aud Hurunui. It was intended to develop 10,1)00 horse power, which would be lass costiy than any of the others, running to £270,000. The Lake itself with a fall ot about 130 ft in a veryshort distance, and only about threequarters of mi':e to ttnr.iil, would be utilised. The pres. Nt How from tha Lake would give pUIM horse power, and cou'.d 'be increased very largely by diverting the Acheron and Harper rivers into the Lake, giving an additional 12.000 horse po\ver. Jsy raising [lit' Lake by a dam, a maximum of. 000 would he obtained. A lurtiier diversion oi' the Wilberi'orce would increase it to To,ooo burse power. The present proposal was to develop 10.000 horse power immediately, including head works lor a future .scheme of 28,(XX) iiorse power. Tiie distance the current. liad to be transmitted was seventy wilss. It v.-as proposed to electrify the lijje through thd Lyttelton tunnel, whiph would greatly 'facilitate the sjvrkng of the frairj" serf ice. Tin. cost of power <X]iyere;l ii| Ohrisreituroh would bn from Jtn to £G pep ljor§e power per annum.

The Kiiituna power would Auckland district and the soiilVior,",' n V... tiuns of Auckland, iwhidirii; th* Fi'ir of Plenty, and \V;iikato, 000 horse power f,t a 'cost" T,f ■'•g-.'rj (lUtf North of Auckland -Fsp H* g>* F "lis for £IOO-

Vvfc Akatara;vTi, fl,,u Valley, a 10,put down for £300,000 to servo Wellington, Lower ilutfc and Potone. U^. tl i°^ l 1 n!ri C; . or ? e a would Ur l H s : Y*> Jjos-w power at a nr*v or &AMW. to ve Paln.erfitMt -,.1-tli. l'o.ldiuji. D.inner:r"ke, "Mas- " Umb!!r " ° tllei " P ' aCeS

orwC, tile e ;'t , Coast lioar ICumnva V< i" 1 bo obtai »«d at a ecst or i'o.UUO, to serve the electrification ,-,2^ ra , tu ? nel section ui the ra.'t"'aJ OOOOJi.p,;, au<l also Qrevmouth and Hokitia. r ' • about 10,000 horse power would be_secured ov. iho Teviot at a i.ost o. £fOO,^^OOi r to serve all the towns Us. tm inferior oi" Otago and the citv ot Dunetin. 5 ? 11,3,L ' uld . from Lake Hauroto, 10,000 nose power would be secured at + to supply the whole rrfef 3" Southland. Tie tijal cost, inchidini? £6OOOO for surveys, would be £1,950,000. J'h« c-i)t to consumers, calculated on j. basis of £io per horse power nor ""'V 1 '" 1 - be much cheaper than ccvld gefc at mrewnt, as £l3 -to £3O. The Gfl-Tgrateiti «nfocia]at;d tha fißßfiJs.

of current at twopence ppr unit lor li«£htih£ and a penny per unit l»>r power, which was very much helow the ohar«ies now. ruling. As a matter of fact, workillii out the eo.-.{ *'ll a lr«n;s of iM) pt*r horse power per annum would hp equivalent, to a rharL'' 1 of only a. per unit for ?in pruntt-'ut working, and a haK-pennr p«r mm \oy continuous working It ua< sV.V- i a-ssume that would ha a of £3 or £4 pit horse> There would b? heavy depreciation funds, of c>nr,«o. and sinking fundc-.

The CrovmiiiK-nf pr«'jios!ii to earrv out the above .-eh»Mn»'> uilhni Ihe nexi four years. It was intended io start Lake Coleridge. Kaiinna and (In l Mutt whernos praetieally simultaneously, and the surveys for Mio whole of Iheut would he put in li.md without dolny. He proposed to ask for half a million annually for four years, and at the em! of two years somo of the schemes would ba reproductive. .TTo submitted tho proposal with every confidence.

On Mr "Mnssey's snn-irostioii the Johate was adjourned till next da v.

DISCrSSRD BY TFTK TTOr^l^. Per Press Association. WELLIXGTOX. '>t. 1:1. I u ihc H'OU:\> mi Ueproscntanves this afternoon the adjourned debate on the Aid to Water-rower Works Bill was resumed.

Air -Massoy said tho proper policy for the Dominion to pursue iu regard to the development ot water power resources was to hasten slow iy. .lie was in favour of developing one sclienio. and it that was successful it would be timo to «*o on with the oompleto policy. Tho schemes outlined by tho .Premier the previous would cost an enormous sum, and he a,sked where would the Government get. customers for the power dovploped. While he would not oppos© the second rea<ling. he would move in committee that the sum asked lor be reduced by one half.

Mr Thomson (Dunedint s;ikl lie was in sympathy with the schemes, but urged caution in the iuitial .stages. Mr Vv iii'urd doubted it' power could be supplied at the figures quoted by the Premier. Ha advocated taking every precaution in the way of getting all reliable information before going on with such a huge undertaking, and if there was any doubt as to the competence of the experts advising ihe Government, he suggested delaying the Bill till next session, so thai- .<ll doubts might be removed. Mr Allen also dwelt on the necessity for caution in carrying out a scheme which might prove a larger one than the Dominion could undertake with success. There were t-wo questions to be considered. The first was whether the Government's estimate oi' cost of the various works was correct: the second whether the horsepiower to He developed was to bo available for -24 hours continuously. The latter question affected the c. st of the power. It ought be made clear that the whole power pro.-hi -ed could be sold at profitable rates, which had not yet been done.

Mr Brown considered that the Government was doing the collect thing, and he was only sorry -t uas not done sooner.

Mr Taylor (Christchurch) urged that before the schemes were undertaken exhaustive data as to the volume, of water, etc., should be obtained. Ihe Lake Coleridge scheme promised to be an immediate success, as more was known about it than about ;.nv oilier.

Mr Poole was thoroughly conviiued that the time was ripe for the utilisation of water power. ' The sob; me outlined by the Premier was sin ambitious one, and it was natural that membeis should advi=e caution. He hoped there would be no teudo-ucy to extravagance in carrying tut the work.

Mr Luke ajroroved of the sdvnie generally, but asked whether it culd be carr ed out oil a bus ness basis.

Mr Mander cong atulate<j «ho Governutait 011 taking up Uiese proposals. Mr Vearce disapproved of the scheme, which was too costly, and too widespread. He considered tiiat private enterprise could undertake the work under certain reslr.etions.

Messrs Maedonald, McLaren. Field and Stallworthy supported i-Vie tccond reading. The House rose at 5.30.

On the House resuming in the evenlngu/ 13uohan<in continued ihe debate. He said it would: bo foolish in the degree for fcho Dominion to enter m a scheme invoicing such, a large outlay of money xvithout* the fullest information being lirst obtained. lie would support the Leader ol" the Opposition in moving to reduce the loan by ono half. Mr Fraser thought it would not be wise to rush headiong into the number of iichemfcs proposed. Tlie , better course would be to complete one or two, so as to get an indieati'Ui as to the possibilities of success,

Mr Laureusoa endorsed Mr i'rasers rcmavks, Mr Dillon gave his support to the scheme.

Mr I{. Mackenzie (Minister of Public Works; considered there was no ground for doubt as to the suc-jess of the water-p;;wo\- policy. The "Lake C'oieiidg:* and the Hurt schemes weri very iuily reported upon, and no scheme would be undertaken without the fullest information being obtained. Kiectrical power could \ys. utilised i'or the man'.)i'ai'lurc <.f nitrates, carbides, \yood piiijt, cement, and in other industries, Tiu'iiiny, Ui the question of it inai'lxKl, lie suiil tiiat there would he a fair demand for electrical power in the districts where it was proposed to erect the works, which were te of a size proportionate to t!-, v . .<ii|"uii-<---nieuts. One result r* jtw «Vo oi' wa';er power woulU «.» t-o draw iw.puiatimi irom tiie towns into the country Hu did not approve of the Oppositions advice to make haste s!i nv i iV . j't W a» wrap fur the pciii.ipn K> radfe a s W and he Jej|. »y.w that tiie sclwma n-n~* t.ayo .1 n' t i)|-e rtfret " l ' - .--and b-ieomniK the greatest manufacturing country in the southern hemisphere. He was satisfied that a larger sum than the two million proposed to he spent on the undertaking might profitably be expanded in m, development of water poiver. the voices 011 ' 1 readins was ca I ried on