VERY HEAVY COST.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 470, 3 June 1932, Page 5

VERY HEAVY COST.

Draining of Lake Ellesmere Reported on. NO RECOMMENDATION. MADE. No recommendation was made by the Unemployment Committee of the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce last night when it reported on three schemes to drain Lake Ellesmere and thus reclaim a maximum of 15,500 acres of land. Three schemes were reported on. They were: To Sumner, via Halswell and Heathcote; through Lake Forsyth to the sea, and through the Little Kakaia. The Sumner scheme involved a cutting of fifteen miles, three miles of which would be 50ft deep, and the cost many years ago was estimated at £1,250,000. It would probably affect the city’s water supply and might prove ineffective. Through Lake Forsyth to the sea involved a cutting half a mile long, 39ft deep, and one mile and a half 30ft deep. The cost was estimated at £125,000, plus the cost of channels draining land adjoining the lake. if the later project of a tunnel under the hill was proceeded with, this expenditure would be additional. The lagoon was often as high as the lake and not sufficient fall was available except as a result of very expensive works. In view of the information quoted and the expenditure which would je involved, the committee did not feel competent to make any recommendation to the council. Mr A. F. Wright said that the most feasible scheme of the lot, that of pumping the water from the lake over the spit into the sea, had not been considered. The chairman (Mr A. O. Wilkinson) said that the direct pumping offered engineering difficulties because of the shingle. The committee had reports on three schemes before it, and considered them.

The pumping scheme was referred to the consideration of the committee.