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ANNEXURE B. SUMMARY OF REPORT OF GOVERNMENT WATER-RACE MANAGER. WAIMEA-KUMARA WATER-RACES (Mr. James Rocheord, Manager). Waimea Water-race. The cash received for sales of water from this race for the year ended 31st March, 1927, was £336 16s. Bd., and the expenditure on management, gauging, and repairs amounted to £776 Bs., showing a debit balance of £439 lis. 4d. on the year's transactions. The sales of water only amounted to £214 2s. 6d., the smallest recorded for the past thirty-eight years, and showed a decrease of £73 16s. 2d., as compared with the previous year. The falling-off in sales was due to the complete cessation of mining operations in the Stafford district, which took place at the end of April, 1926, the total value of water supplied for this purpose during the year only amounting to £8 2s. 6d., which fully bore out the opinion expressed in my last annual report, to the effect that practically all the payable sluicingground commanded by the water from this race was then worked away. The balance of the sales of water, amounting to £206, was supplied to Parker Bros., for the development of power to work their sawmill at Gillam's Gully, near Stafford. This sawmill, which employed about fourteen men, was efficiently managed, and worked regularly throughout the year until about the middle of March, when, owing to the lack of orders, operations were suspended indefinitely. No serious breaks occurred on this race, and, with the exception of three days during the year, a constant supply of water was available at the terminus of the race at Ballarat Hill, Stafford. A considerable amount of repair work was carried out by the staff on this race during the year, particularly on the upper section from the Kawhaka Creek to the intake of the Waimea inverted siphon. This portion of the race is now in excellent order, but some of the timbered tunnels in the vicinity of Fox's, Goldsborough, and Stafford are in a bad state, and constant supervision and occasional repairs will be essential to minimize the probability of serious breaks. Although the months of December, January, and February were exceptionally dry for the West Coast, the supply of water from this race was excellent, and the Waimea inverted siphon, which has a carrying capacity of 30 cubic feet per second, could have been kept running full all the year if the water had been required. The cash received was £136 14s. Bd. greater than during the previous year, and the expenditure showed a decrease of £18 12s. 6d. Branch Race to Callaghan's and Middle Beanoh Flat. The cash received from this race for sales of water for the year ended 31st March, 1927, only amounted to £28 155., and the expenditure on management, gauging, maintenance, and repairs amounted to £477 os. 3d., showing a debit balance of £448 ss. 3d. on the year's transactions. Havill's claim was worked intermittently for the first six months of the financial year, but the value of water purchased by the party during that period was considerably less than it should have been, and only amounted to £28 155., a reduction of £35 i6s. Bd. on that of the previous year. This party ceased sluicing operations on the 30th September, 1926, and from that date until 31st March, 1927, no water was supplied from the race for mining or other purposes. Certain urgent repairs were carried out by the staff during the year to some of the flumings on this race, but they are old structures, and the timber in most of them, particularly the boxing, is in a very decayed condition. The cash received was £35 16s. Bd. less than during the previous year, and the expenditure showed a decrease of £5 88. 3d. Kumara Water-raoe. The cash received for sales of water from this race amounted to £106 13s. 4d. ; for royalty on timber cut on the Reservoir Reserve, £627 ss. ; for sale of gauger's old hut, £3 ; and for first payment on account of contract for right to cut dry silver-pine, £27 ; making a total revenue of £763 18s. 4d. The expenditure on maintenance and repairs amounted to £12 Is. 7d., thus showing a profit of £751 16s. 9d. on the year's transactions No miners were supplied with water from this race during the year; the whole of the revenue derived from sales was received from the Okuku Sawmill Co. for water supplied for power development. During the year about sixty intermediate sets of timber and a number of lining-boards were placed in position in the Kumara head-race tunnel by the water-race staff, but a very considerable amount of repair work would have to be carried out before the original carrying-capacity of this tunnel would be restored. With the exception of certain sections of this tunnel the Kumara Water-race and the Nos. 1 and 2 Kapitea Reservoirs are in good order. Kumara Trans-Taramakau Water-race. Owing to the non-restoration of the serious break which took place in the trans-Taramakau pipe-line in November, 1925, this race was out of commission for the whole year. Wainihinihi and Waimea Additional Supply Water-races. During the year about thirty-two sets of hewn timber were prepared and placed in position in different tunnels by the water-race staff, and a further number will be required from time to time to insure safety, but generally speaking these races are in good order. Waimea-Kumara and Callaghan's Water-baces. The following is a summary of the revenue and expenditure of the above water-races for the financial year ended 31st March, 1927 : Sales of water, £349 10s. lOd. ; cash received, £1,129 10s. (including royalty on timber, &c.); expenditure, £1,265 9s. lOd. ; approximate value of gold obtained, £274 15s. The average number of miners employed for the first six months of the year was two. No mining operations were carried out during the last six months of the year. The sales of water show a decrease of £133 12s. 10d., and the cash received shows an increase of £215 3s. 9d. on that of the previous year. The total expenditure amounted to £1,265 9s. 10d., as against £1,298 15s. 5d., a decrease of £33 ss. 7d. Comparing the cash received with the expenditure, the combined races show a loss of £135 19s. lOd. for the year, but had the cash for the sale of iron and steel pipes been received before the close of the year the loss would have been reduced to £38 15s.