WATERING AUSTRALIA

Waikato Independent, Volume XL, Issue 3763, 27 September 1940, Page 2

WATERING AUSTRALIA

HUGE IRRIGATION SCHEME INLAND AREAS OF THREE STATES With the completion of the main construction works for the threestate Murray River conservation and irrigation scheme, the water of 1,000 miles of Australia's largest stream has been harnessed to ensure crop production in dry inland areas of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. The undertaking, regarded as the most remarkable in Australia, has taken 20 years to complete, and has cost the four contributing Governments —New South Wales, Victorian, South Australian, and the Commonwealth—£l2,ooo,ooo, of which the Hume Reservoir, the storage headquarters, absorbed £5,500,000. The scheme has cost New South Wales £3,000,000, but the storing of the' waters of the Murray in the Hume Reservoir has made it necessary for the Government of that State to embark on three irrigation schemes at a cost of an additional £2,500,000. The first scheme has been completed at a cost of £510,000; another, costing £1,650,000, will be finished in 1942, and the third, costing £400,000, was begun last year and will not be finished before 1943. Lack of money because of the demands of the war will delay completion. , Agreement in 1915

The story of the River Murray scheme began in 1915 with an agreement between the four Governments, but construction did not start until 1919. It has been finished with the completion of construction of barrages at the mouth of the Murray in South Australia. The agreement between the four Governments provided for the conservation of the waters of the Murray at the Hume Reservoir and at Lake Victoria, South Australia. It also provided for the construction of weirs and locks over the length of the river between South Australia and Echuca, Victoria, and other

locks and weirs at the junctions of the Murray with the New South Wales rivers, Murrumbridgee and Darling. The agreement provided for the allocation of the waters of the Murray, stipulating the quantity to be sent down to South Australia each month. The balance available from the Hume Reservoir was to be shared equally between Victoria and New South Wales for nine months of the year. Each Government was to contribute one-quarter of the cost.

Weirs Reduced

An amendment to the agreement eliminated a large number of locks and weirs along the part of the river forming the border between Victoria and New South Wales, and reduced the number of weirs New South Wales was entitled to build on the Murrumbidgee. The amendment provided for the inclusion of a large weir at Yarrawonga—now feeding many irrigated areas both in Victoria and New South Wales—and the construction of five barrages at the Murray mouth. Although the River Murray construction work itself is now finished, the commission of representatives of the four Governments, which was set up to control the scheme, will continue to function. Its duty will be to supervise operation and the maintenance of works, and the control and distribution of the water to the three States, which will equally share the cost of the commission, estimated at £45,000 a year.

The River Murray scheme means to New South Wales an assured supply of water in fertile but limited rainfall areas. In the past the water of the river often became low, but now extensive areas can safely be developed and more closely settled without ;fear of a water shortage.