ASHBURTON COUNTY COUNCIL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2210, 27 August 1889, Page 3

ASHBURTON COUNTY COUNCIL.

The following Is the report rf the County Council Engineer whloh wai to have been considered at a meeting thl» af tnoon : — Engineer's Report. The Chairman, Ashburton County Council. Sir, — 1 have the honor to report as follows : Upper Rargitata Biidge.- The two contracts for Protective work on the southern bank have now been completed, and some willow planting and fencing have also been executed m the vicinity of the bridge as outhcrsed. North Ashburton Biver Bridie at Digby's.— Some minor repairs have been executed du'ing the month. Taylo 's Stream Bridge — The rail? forrepa ; rs of groins have now been provided, and will be fixed m about ten days. Pudding Hill Stream: The extension of stream deviation near River Br'dge is now m progress, and will be completed about the end of this week. Plains Water Su-ply.— This rervice has been well maintained during the month, the only hi'ch having taken place at the end of last week, when a thaw setting m throueh the continuance of north-west wn^s some blockage took place at the he? d works, and a good deal of gorse was blown into the distributing , races from the same cause, but the clearance is now nearly complete. The Work of Protecting the Main Auxiliary Channel m the Methven district has been commenced, and will probably be finished I next month. The new race forming the connection at River Road, Wakanui, has been completed, and the water turned into it- -The settlers, however, who petitioned for the restoring of the race are very slow indeed to clear ont their races to receive it now tbat the supply has been given. Proposed Auxiliary Supply from Rakaia River. — The Council will observe that the result of the polling Irs been to defect this scheme, this seems to have been almost entirely due to apathy on the part of the settlers, and net to opposition of which there was scarcely any. It appears to me the Act is not fitly framed for enterprises of this sort. It is too much to assume tbat all non-voters are hostile to a proposal of this kind, and some amendment of the Act m this particular seems to be required. In the absence of any Auxiliary Water Supply I take it that all applications for new water races must continue to be held m abeyance. The Council is fuUy aware that during the dry reason of the year there is now no margin whatever after supplying the exist'ng races, and for every mile of new race which would be granted now, there would probably be io miles of the existing system of races d:sorganised during the season when water is of the greatest benefit. Ashburton-Rangitata Water Supply : With very few exceptions the races throughout this district are now m fair order. The race for Messrs Ballantyne and others m Shepherd's bush district held over from las, year, will be commenced nevt week. I have slightly amended the line over parts of it so as to make it more generally f erviccble. As requested I have inspected the small holdings ■ ncr Mayfield with a view to report on the petition sent m by them. I find that a curtailment of race can be made as indicated o ■ sketch m red. This wo" Id reduce the length to about 30 chains which would practically be sufficient for all purposes, and I should recommend the service subject to that modification to be granted. No further applications for races m Ashburton-RangiUta district should be entertained this year, as the lower end, or Ccldstream district, is already but indifferently supplied during droughts. Mount Somers Water Supply : A considerable improvement has bren made m these races. The smpply to Springburn station will be finished m a few days, as will also the nice for the settlers m the bush. Houston's Creek : The improvement of th»t portion of the creek adjoining main south road will be put m hand at once. Plantations : The various plantation contracts have hcen crmpleted. Some gorse grubbing will soon bs necessary m some of the older plantations. Gazetting Races : I have prepared plans to accompany the descriptions of county races for gazetting purposes. Gauging Streams : I have prepared the bimonthly record of gauging of streams m Ash-burton-Rangitata district for period terminating with th's month.