RIVER AND LAND DRAINAGE

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24895, 7 June 1946, Page 8

RIVER AND LAND DRAINAGE

Big Projects For Canterbury

CATCHMENT BOARD REPORT Among works projected in the second annual report of the North Canterbury Catchment Board is the drainage of the area between the Ashley and Waimakariri rivers to the sea. The plans and proposals for drainage and flood control cover an area of nearly 95.000 acres of the best land in the South Island in three counties and two boroughs of Kaiapoi and Rangiora. with a capital value of nearly £2.900.000. The proposal is that a sum of £32,000 be provided by the local ratepayers, rated on the six classifications as required by the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Act, 1941. The board reports that this would mean that class “A” would pay Id in the £ for four years; class “B,” 5/6ths of a penny: class “C,” 4'6ths of a penny; class “D.” 3/6ths of a penny; class “E.” 2/6ths of a penny; class “F,” lz'6th of a penny. It would require a subsidy' of £121,740 for £3 or £1) in addition to certain credits in aid to make it practicable. A preliminary meeting, most representative in character. of all the local authorities concerned, had been held; the scheme had been generally approved, and it was now under local discussion. The annual maintenance cost was estimated to be light in comparison with the magnitude of the job, being £2410 against a present cost of £1495 for maintaining an inadequate system. The work of surveying the Selwyn river through the territory of four counties to a point above Oakleys, upstream from the Bealey Ford, had continued during the year, and a full report has been issued to the local authorities. An air-survey mosaic of the whole area had also been prepared, and clear photographs from the air, of the areas flooded early in 1945, had been obtained. The cost of the scheme (which provides for clearing willows, gorse, and broom over a channel width of 300 feet) was estimated at £33.000. It affected the following land: Ellesmere County, 18.250 acres, of a capital value of £438,800; Selwyn County, 5307 acres (£66,280); Springs County, 3750 acres (£85,280); and a small area in the Malvern County. The board considered that the burden of this area of admittedly very fertile land would be too heavy if the whole cost were charged upon it. A rough classification suggested that a rate annually over four years (the estimated construction period) of class “A” d, class “B” id,.and class *‘D” jd in the £ of capital value, would provide £BOOO, and it was proposed to ask the council for a subsidy of £3 for £l. The future maintenance of the river would probably cost up to £BOO per annum. The counties were considering the scheme, which might be the subject of further conferences and possibly some little alteratiop. It had not to be forgotten that any “subsidy” granted in these cases was actually paid by the general taxpayer of the whole Dominion. Survey of Rakaia River The Rakaia river had yet to be surveyed, and a scheme prepared to deal •with varying conditions over its length. Discussions had taken place with the South Canterbury Catchment Board and the Ashburton County • Council concerning remedial measures to deal with periodical extensive erosion and flooding in areas south of the river, and the river itself. • The Rakaia river became a major responsibility of the board to be dealt with in the coming year. The clearing of willows and cleaning out of the bed of the Irwell creek at a cost of £2400 was projected. The board had suggested the extension of the work to cover the whole length of the upper reaches of the river. “Having as yet no plant and machinery, the board has had to be content meantime with the administration duties of the area under its jurisdiction, and with surveying, planning, and estimating in preparation for work to be done in various districts, always with an eye to these projects fitting into the complete pattern of effective preservation of the soil covering its 4375 square miles,” says the report. “In the meantime, it has successfully dealt with several urgent problems by contracting with other local bodies possessing plant.”