ENGINEERS CONTROL Clutha Flood Menace

Highlander, Volume 1, Issue 2, 23 March 1945, Page 2

ENGINEERS CONTROL Clutha Flood Menace

Prompt action by Public Works Engineers has saved Kaitangata from further damage by the flooded Molyneux river, The experts are confident that they have overcome the threat to 20,000 acres of rich farm land which was inundated when the river broke through the protective bank below Stirling.

It was “recognised that the problem was too great for local handling and the Minister of Public Works announced that his department had gained control. Their solution of the immediate difficulty was to make a cut in the river bank on the seaward side of a spot where the flood broke through, thus giving a quick outlet for the waters which had backed up bver the surrounding flat lands and flooded a lower-lying portion of the coal-mining town of Kaitangata. This farm land together with the adjoining island of Inchclutha is recognised, as one of the most valuable mixed farming areas in the Dominion.

The Molyneux, or Clutha river, has its source in the three lakes, Hawea, Wanaka and Wakatipu, which were at an unusually high level when heavy rains fell in the mountains causing the worst flood for 25 years. Below Balclutha the river separates into two branches which enclose a large area of alluvial lands and this is bordered on the eastern side by a large area of drained and reclaimed land extending between Stirling and Kaitangata and running for some mile's northwards towards Milton. All this region was affected by the flood and at best, heavy losses of crops must be expected.