THE WAIMAK.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18894, 8 January 1927, Page 16

THE WAIMAK.

RIVER TRUST'S ACTIONS. STATEMENTS CONTRADICTED. Decently, on behalf of the Waimukaxiri Biver Trust, the secretary, Mr C. • W. Hervey, wrote to The Press, denying oertain statements appearing in our isiue of December 18th, regarding the Trust's operations on the north bank. In attempting to refute the statement that the Trust had left in the bed of the river clumps of willows, which had proved serious obstructions, Mr Her vegetated:—"The Trust cleared the bed of the river, and wherever possible the sides of the river, of willows, from White's Bridge to a point some miles upstream, giving a much improved getaway of flood waters past Mr Wright's land." According to the farmers the Trust must have met with insuperable difficulties in this most necessary work, which would have been only a;' element- . ary precaution, in view of its extraordinary action in forcing tho river into a narrow pipe, without reasonable measures to ensure that flood waters would have A getaway. Obstructions in the Bed. Apart from the clearing away of a few willows from tho island _ above White's bridge and the removal of an absurdly narrow strip at the mouth of ' the south branch, the Trust has done nothing on either side for a distance of • 60 chains, until the Cutting bridge is reached. Farmers have regarded this as an extraordinary attitude, in view of this stretch being the critical part of tho river. Furthermore, not the slightest attempt has been made to give the riverbed a greater carrying capacity at White's or the Cutting bridge. Breaches in Bank. Mr Hcrvey stated also: "The second statement which I have to correct is the following, in connexion With the repairs of the breaches in Wright's bank. After saying that 'only a half-hearted attempt had been made to repair the breaches,' the article goes ' on as follows: 'Teams had actually ; been tajcen off the work long before completion and sent to the Eyre river, where work of a nature which was far from urgent was in progress.' • "The actual facts are as follows: As - soon as it was possible to begin repairing the breaches after the flood of Nor vember stb all available teams wcro pnt to work —other work such as the • construction of the new stopbanks on . Coutts Island being suspended so that the repairs might be carried out most expeditiously. *At tho breaches in Mr Wright's bank it was impossible owing I to the physical conditions to work more , ' than a limited number, of teams. Mr Ju Wright approached the works superintendent, and asked that his own liones, which, were idle, might be employed by the Trnst. Tho works superintendent agreed to this, and to make mom for Wright's horses, shifted a corresponding number away to the Eyre. , At the game time, two other teams belonging to Hi L. Banks were put on, ' so that the total force on this particular job was increased by two teams." Denial by Fanners.

Further enquiries among the farmers in the locality referred to go to prove that th<» Trust's overseer could scarcely subscribe to Mr Hervey's statement. Independent records have been kept •«f the comings and . goings of the teams employed by the Trust on the Impairs, and these, it is claimed, prove . conclusively that the'-Trust had no intention of strengthening the teams on, J. Wright's stopbank, _ and thus rendering it an impossibility for the later floods to inundate the neighbouring farms. The actual facts are that several of the teams which commenced work on L. Wright's stopbank on November 9th, following upon the disastrous , flood of November sth. were never - actually utilised for the much more urgent work of filling in the great gaps in the bank on J. Wright's land., The ' tifumn which commenced work on this Undertaking on December 2nd were as follows:—Banks's (2), L. Wright's (3),' and Driscoll's." Work was continued : until December 7th with all the teams stated, and on the night of December 7th, orders were given to shift to Chaney's. A flood came down that . jaiffab, and the teams went to Chaney's . leaving none for the repair work until the 14th. They did half a day's work .en the date mentioned, and it was sot until after December 14th —nearly i nz weekß later than the big flood—mat extra teams were employed on tit* repairs. Messrs J. Wood (chairman of the Trust) and F. C. Hay (engineer) must have been cognisant of what was happening, as they visited the place between December 7th and 13th. A Damaged Stopbank. ' About 20 horses had been gent away before Banks's teams, which were the only extra ones, were started pn the repairs. Among the former were MoMahon's six horses. On about the second orthird day on which the Trust was operating on L. Wright's bank, it bad'9s horses working, but on J. iWright's bank, which was a much mora urgent work, the most it had was 25 bones, and thoeo for only five days. . iXrom the date of the big flood to ■December 2nd it did not strengthen teams on J. Wright's bank except for the brief period stated. It .Was never intended to work more than twelve horses right ' through until • there was a track over the scours. Under the statutory powers conferred on the Trust, its overseer has power to issue or refuse to issue permits for the removal of shingle from the riverbed; yet it has allowed contractors for the cartage of shingle to break down the bank between Reid's corner and the Empire bridge at eight • places to the level of Reid's road, vfcfost of, these breaches have been made' ' in the past three or four years. The big flood in November streamed • these breaks, and flooded an area" which otherwise would not have been flooded. These gaps have not been" filled in yet. s Another inconsistency on the part the Trust was to refuse to raise the atopbanks east of those at Clarkville on the score that it had no money Available for the work,,yet immediately after this it had employed teams on . the Chaney's -bank, and had kept yearns employed on the Clarkville bank So far as is known they are working there to-day. ''Wrights* land has been flooded frequently for many years" ia another statement made bv Mr Hervey. but tbpae who know the locality, and have lived in it for manv years, state that when it. was flooded previously it was fumally due to back-water.