RUAKURA SWAMP AREA.

Waikato Times, Volume 99, Issue 16652, 18 November 1925, Page 8

RUAKURA SWAMP AREA.

COMPREHENSIVE IMPROVEMENT GOVERNMENT SUGGESTION. (By N. G. Gribble.) ( Probably no more important matter . in so far as this district is concerned ] has ever come before any meeting i than the development of the “Ruakura Swamp,” which will be the subject of 1 the conference between the drainage 1 boards and representatives of the Dc- I partments of Land Drainage, Public Works, and Internal Affairs, at Ham- 1 ilton on Wednesday next. For years this great area has stood ; a naked disgrace to our development , policy along the main Auckland-Ro- ; torua railway line. .'About two and a half years ago a committee, represent- , ativo of country and town interests, , waited on the Hon. W. F. Massey, late . Prime Minister, and asked his assistance in getting a comprehensive "solid survey” made of the area. Mr Massey in promising help said that he would give instructions ensuring that the Government would do its part, but that ihe people in the district must do theirs. The report., which was a matter of some magnitude, wos drawn up and submitted with a series of most instructive plans to the boards Interest- < cd and the Chamber of Commerce in July last. If in the early stages full information did not reach all boards it. was probably owing to an idea in Wellington that the. interested parties were working closely together, and that the information would be passed round. The report was published practically in full in the Waikato Times of August 8. Since the report was published various meetings have been held, some of a small, more or less, local nature, and two in Hamilton were of a more representative character. The point which must strike the most superficial observer at once is that (here'appears to be no cohesion or community of investigations among the local bodies concerned, and it is to en- , dcavour to bring this about that the meeting on the 25th instant is to be held. Importance of Works. From every conceivable angle it would appeal 1 a matter of the utmost moment to the rural and town interests, that a very large area of country which can be made highly productive by the expenditure of a relatively small "sum, should as quickly as possible be brought into full production. That the uual agencies for bringing about this desired result have to a large extent failed, is evident from the fact that for the total 57,000 acres computed as being in the area affected, the following figures arc given:—Consolidation: Good, 1500 acres; fail, 12,500; poor, 27,511; nil, 10,500. It will be seen that after about 60 years of. settlement only 2.0 per cent, of the area has been brought into approximately the condition which drainage works arc calculated to produce, and that a further large area comprising tens of thousands of acres is practically contributing nothing to the wealth of the country. The report, however, states: —“There is a big future before this district. When thoroughly developed it is destined to become a closely-settled dairying area capable of carrying a cow to every two, or at the most, to every two and a half acres. The' value of such an area to the Waikato district and to the Dominion can readily be estimated.” To bring about such a result is, in the considered opinion of the highlytrained men who have inspected tho swamp, a matter of very little difficulty. They say: “From a drainage point of view the area is very happily situated”; “there is no foreign water to contend with’; and again, “There is ample fall for all drainage purposes, and the scheme presents no engineering difficulties." Having opened in this way, the report gives details of certain projected works which arc given as basis for the full development of the “unloading" works. Never before in this Dominion, so far as the writer is aware, has a scheme of this sort been laid out giving costs up to the time of full development, and the subsequent annual maintenance. Cost of Undertaking. This point is of the utmost importance in considering the scheme which has been submitted by the officials, and it is one which has not been given due prominence by those interested here. On this point the report runs: —“In « report such as this it is manifestly impossible to go into the details of oxact location and cost. And as a report, is of little value without some indication of probable costs I have supplied tho above quoted figures which, with ox- | Iras and engineering costs, but without taking into consideration the portion of the Mangawara River costs chargeable to the Upper Mangawara area, amount to £152,000, or approximately £2 13s per acre over the whole area. This expenditure will be spread over a period of, say, ten years, by which time the whole of the area should bo carrying a sole of grass of sufficient quality to warrant dairying. The maintenance of these works will necessitate an annual expenditure of £3000." j In a summing up Mr Campbell t chief drainage engineer) states: —• “With sufficient drainage works in operation there seems to be no reason why the greater portion of the I area should not be in reasonably good pasture within three or four years, and the remainder within say eight years. In the deep peat areas, as can be imagined, the run off is small, and an occasional flooding does little or no permanent damage. In these areas it is therefore unnecessary to excavate Ihe initial drains to full widths, but the depths must be maintained. The progress of the development of the area is dependent on the rate of subsidence, and in order that this subsidence might be uniform and continuous, it is essential that the main outlets be maintained at not less-than five, nor more than seven feet in depth and the secondary and subdivisjonal drains at not less than three, nor more than five feet in depth. This will necessitate deepening the drains in tho peat country each year.” Carrying 10,000 Dairy Cows. ,„ The picture which the report opens to the eye is an attractive one in every way, but it seems hardly to have penetrated fully into the consciousness of most of those who have perused it. ' Under date of April 2S last, Mr Campbell, in sending on his report, directed 1 the following interesting letter to his deparlmenal chief, the Undcr-Sccre- . tary of Lands:— • “in accordance with your instructions of July 3, 1923, [ am enclosing herewith my report in duplicate in connection with the development of the above area. The report is selfexplanatory, and for all investigated purposes reasonably complete. The possibilities of early development of

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