BENEFICIAL RAIN

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 85, Issue 10, 13 January 1941, Page 4

BENEFICIAL RAIN

WANGANUI .AND DISTRICT

RELIEF FOR DRY PASTURES

EFFECT ON M ATER SI PPL! Beneficial rain, the fits: since Christmas Eve. fell in Wanganui and district on Saturday, and was followed yesterday by a moderate westerly gale. Though sufficient only to freshen pastures and garden:., parched after a prolonged spell of dry weather, the rain which fell on Saturday ;ift“>noon and night relieved the position to a certain extent. This was particularly noticeable in the city's water supply. Because of the rain, less water was used in Wanganui on Saturday, and the level at the Westmere reservoir rose 3ft. 2ins. Last week the average daily consumption of water in Wanganui was 3,200.000 gallons, but for the 24 hours ended at 9 a.m. yesterday the draw-off was only 2,400,000 gallons. At Okoia the rainfall on Saturday, recorded by Mr. F. Pratt, was the first since the start of the New Year and amounted to only ,20in. December also was very dry, and Mr. Pratt’s statistics show that only .9(1 in. was recorded for the month. Reports from other centres indicate that the rain was fairly general in both islands, thus breaking a drought after 16 days of hot, dry weather. The ram relieved a situation which, while not serious, was beginning to cause farmers concern. In the lower Manawatu district dairy production had fallen b'y nearly one-third in the last 10 days. Lambs were beginning to lose condition in the Wairarapa, and th# hilly country round Pahiatua was becoming very dry. Conditions in the Wanganui district are similar, and two days of heavy rain would be welcome to farmers.

Heavy Showers. Apart from a few showers on Christmas Eve, the fall in Wanganui on Saturday was the first experienced for about six weeks. Friday was dull and overcast, but no ram tell till Saturday morning, when a light drizzle started. Heavy showers fell in the afternoon, but the rain eased off till Saturday night, when there were further heavy showers. At present about 40 per cent, of the Wanganui city water supply is drawn from Okehu, and the remainder from the Kai Iwi springs. Water from both sources flows into the Westmere Reservoir, and during the dry weather the demand for water has ocen ab[normal. It is estimated that the daily consumption per head of population is 125 gallons, including all water used for industrial purposes. Hosing restrictions were imposed recently in order to conserve supplies, and the effect of this was noticed immediately at Westmere, wheer the level rose by 12ins. a day.

In Other Centres. A Press Association message from Christchurch stated that the drought of the last few weeks was interrupted yesterday at 4 p.m. by a brief, but heavy hailstorm, followed by Fair which continued, though not heavily, till 7 p.m. It was anticipated by the Meteorological Office, Wellington, that the rains would continue and that districts not yet eased will benefit. Fiftyfive points, a little over half an inch fell in Wellington up to 9 a.m. on Saturday. The rain commenced at 11.30 on Friday night and became heavy between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m., then eased off a little, and it started to rain really heavily at 4.30 a.m. and continued until 7.30 a.m., when it eased again a little. On Saturday morning there was heavy rain on the Marlborough and Nelson Provinces, and there was some rain in New Plymouth and the Manawatu. It was showery on most of the west coast of the North Island. ‘‘lt is literally raining fl notes for the berry fruit growers,” said the manager of a Wellington market gardening concern. Raspberries, he said, were badly in need of the rain, and the drought was affecting apricots. Most of the market gardeners had learnt not to rely on rainfall, and he knew of one grower with 16 wells who used 3000 gallons a day in irrigation. Such growers have not been affected by the dry spell.