NEED FOR WATER.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20541, 16 February 1935, Page 27 (Supplement)

NEED FOR WATER.

Oxford Farmers to Consider Scheme. BETTER SUPPLY WANTED. A combined meeting of the county councils affected by the failure of the water supply in the Oxford district will be held at Oxford on Monday afternoon to consider how the supply can be improved. The season has been a disastrous one for the farmers. Lambs have gone away as stores when they might have been fat. Green crops stood still, with little or no growth since planting. Farmers did not wish to put their sheep on the small amount of green feed available, and yet to feed on oats and hay would mean a shortage in the winter. Rain set in at Oxford on Thursday night, and continued all yesterday, although at times it was only a light drizzle. Mr H. G. Parish, president of the Oxford Farmers’ Union, said last night that where there had been three and a half inches of water in the races in the back country there was now nine and a half inches. This rise had not reached the lower country, but it was expected that the benefit would be felt shortly. “ I can’t estimate what the rain is worth as far as the feed is concerned,” said Mr Parish. “ What puzzles me is how the turnips have stood up to the dry weather. They have not had rain since they were put in, and yet they are looking quite well. The most likely explanation is that the ground has been so well cultivated for years that the moisture came up from the subsoil. However, I am sure that all the moisture had been used up, as the roots of the turnips were beginning to wither. The present rain will save them undoubtedly. Form of Insurance. “ Farmers in Oxford feel that the Government ought to wake up and give them insurance by making available a good safe water supply. They cannot insure their stock, so it is up to. the Government to give some form of insurance, and that is the way it can help.” Mr P. Fisher, chairman of the Oxford County Council, explained that the question had been considered once before, and it had been thought advisable that a fresh intake should be made near the junction of Patterson’s Creek with the Waimakariri. There was no necessity for a dam, but the best methods of executing the scheme lay in the hands of engineers. Referring to the meeting to be held on Monday, Mr Fisher said the provision of an adequate water supply was an urgent matter. “Up here in Oxford, the people have had a rough time,” said Mr Fisher. “The water supply in the upper district has been dependent on the flow in the Eyre water race. This water, about three inches deep and eighteen inches had to supply an area of about 20,000 acres* As might be expected, the people in the lower districts were without water altogether most of the time. I sincerely hope the weather has really b-oken, because we badly need a stead) rain.”