OTIPUA LAGOON

Timaru Herald, Volume XCIII, Issue 14349, 15 November 1910, Page 5

OTIPUA LAGOON

CAN IT BE DRAINED? , WHAT MR LEEDER SAYS. The borough engineer lately had a iook at the Otipua lagoon with a view to reporting on the possibility of dru.nit. He lias not yet hud time to make a survey sufficient to enable him to give a uetaiied and final report. Alt jjteder s;us mat Heavy ilocds a considerable bouy <_r water must discharge into iiie la-ouu, and as is no outlet tlic slnngie bans at tiie sea oeacii 3 a great quantity ot water rnusn accumulate on me fiat before it becomes high enuni£u to break tlirougli and clear a channel for the impounded waters, i'rojii observations lie has niatitj Mr L-tcJcr is oi opinion that in the area winch discharges storm water there would be a quantity of water to say, one ciiain wide by 4it <ieep, and if iiowing at the rate ot 3ft, a second jt woula acc-umuhiie X7,lb(J,t4S an hour —in extreme flood. To pjuvid-.* permanent works at ike beach capable of discharging T-lio uiasmum :i; < u water would, he thinks, be quite beyond the means available. In any case to mature a scheme suitable u drain the lagoon would necessitate extensive surveys being made and kve.s obtained. And until this is done no accurate cost of a scheme can be given.' It has been suggested that a culvert through the sJimgle bank would moet the case. Of this he is doubtful :;iid would not care to he responsible for the expenditure of any money in this way. He is of opinion that to drain the lagoon successfully would he a very irii'-h largo undertaking than is anticipated. £SOO had been mentioned, but it would take fully half that amount to cotplant for an undertaking .such as presents itself at Otipua lagoon. Mr Leeder savs that when time permits he will draw tin a scheme for the drainage of the lagoon together with a proposal for bringing a large area of what is now a swamp, into grazing or farm land.