“Hydrological Designing Needed For Dams”

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31119, 23 July 1966, Page 20

“Hydrological Designing Needed For Dams”

As the future of New Zealand depended largely on how water resources were used, the building of dams without the benefit of hyrological design was a matter of real concern, said Professor J. R. Burton, head of the agricultural engineering department at Lincoln College. He was replying to a correspondent, “Interested Taxpayer.” The correspondent said Professor Burton implied in a recent speech that many dams built in New South Wales had failed because they had not been built with hydrological techniques. The correspondent wrote.— “From your report of Professor Burton’s recent address it would appear that in dramatically emphasising a point he implied that many dams built in New South Wales had turned out to be ‘white elephants’ because of being designed without the use of hydrological techniques. This is disturbing to the taxpayers and ratepayers footing the bills. However, as one who has seen many Australian and New Zealand dams in course of construction and after completion, I find it difficult to believe that the designers and builders are not fully up to date with all the latest techniques available, and it has occurred to me that Professor Burton, as an agricultural engineer may possibly have been referring to some of the many very small and inexpensive

agricultural dams built in parts of New South Wales by farmers for collecting and storing stormwater for stock. I would be grateful if Professor Burton would comment.” His comments related to large dams, not small ones—although a survey had shown that half the farm dams in Australia were hydrological failures, said Professor Burton.

“I cannot criticise the civil engineers responsible for the structural design and construction of large dams, for their methods are entirely up-to-date,” he said. “Unfortunately, this does not apply to hydrological design—the process of deciding just how big a dam should be or whether it should be built at all—which, in Australia at least is largely a matter of guesswork. “While I have not had any opportunity to study the methods used for the hydrological design of large dams in New Zealand, I would suggest that too little attention is given to basin-wide planning for the co-ordinated use of available water resources and that too few dams are planned for multi-purpose use. “As your correspondent suggests, this is a matter for real concern, not only to taxpayers but to the entire community: the future of New Zealand depends in large measure on how wisely we use our water resources,” said Professor Burton.