Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. MONDAY, JULY 28, 1947 NEW SOURCE OF POWER

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 59, 28 July 1947, Page 4

Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. MONDAY, JULY 28, 1947 NEW SOURCE OF POWER

THE most interesting piece of news of the week to date as far as this district is concerned is the revival of the State Hydro-Electrical Department’s interest in the development of several generating schemes on the Kaituna, Tarawera and Rangitaiki rivers. The potentialities of any scheme for the harnessing of these rivers are enormous, and are calculated to solve the power problems of the East Coast, Bay of Plenty and Rotorua areas for all time. Ever since the 1904 report to the Government by Mr P. S. Hay, M.A. recommending the practical exploitation of the water power bound up in these swiftly-falling rivers the local bodies in this district have from time to time emphasised that the matter be pressed further by active experimentation. The whole scheme however seems to have been pigeon-holed by successive Govern-

ments in spite of these representations until the drastic power shortage throughout the North Island compelled the Department to look further afield, and'to finally resurrect the dusty plans and reports of by-gone years. The Kaituna stream which flows from Lake Rotoiti gives some splendid falls, which more than favourably compare with existing hydro-electric schemes. There appears to be every reason for this proposal to be fully explored in the very near future, mainly on account of its close proximity to Rotorua. The Tarawera presents a different proposition again. The swift-ly-falling waters certainly find their way seawards through a series of stony and picturesque gorges until they reach the plains, but experts have expressed some concern at the nature of the terrain through which the turbulant waters pass. The Rangitaiki, which was only recently represented to a Minister of the Crown by a gathering of farmers at Edgecumbe, combines both volume and fall for a first class series of generating plants. From the rising settlement of Galatea, where an increasing demand for power may be expected steadily during the coming years, the river falls steeply through the Waiohau gorge, the stone ramparts of which would provide half a dozen lodging places for dam abuttments. Twenty miles of tortuous passage are presented

by the tumbling waters every section of which would appear to lend itself to careful study by the student power generation. The harnessing of the Rangitaiki would be a dual blessing to the adjoining country where the river with its wide watershed in Galatea and Kaingaroa has periodically flooded the low-lying plains. Catchments or artificial lakes at given intervals would undoubtedly control its volume and make for an even flow, during the wettest winters, while the steady flow of electrical energy from each generating unit would more than meet the needs of the Eastern Bay for years to come.