RIVERS CONTROL

Chronicle (Levin), 9 December 1947, Page 3

RIVERS CONTROL

catchment board'S wgrk The favourable weather experienced in the Manawatu district during the late winter and the spring has enabled the engineering staff of the Manawatu Catchment Board to effect repairs to practically- all major damage caused by the 17ft. 6in. flood in August. Han'd in hand with the repair work the job of strengthening weak points has progressed, and provided good summer conditions prevail the board should be exceptionally well a'dvanced with its river protection works by next winter. Approximately £1400 has been expended on the Manawatu River and works have been carried out at the following bends (reading in order to the gorge) : Prior's Bend (Old Foxton Road),-. Whitanui, Hansen's, Barrow's, Allright's, Akers', Cowdrey's, McRae's, Stuart's, Larsen's, O'Neill's, Brotherstone's and Hartgill's. Work on' Cridges' Bend will begin soon. East of the ranges £1900 has been .expended on protection work along the Mangatainoka River, a tributary of the Manawatu. A host of smaller jobs has been carried out on other waterways, including eight separate protection works along the Mangaore Stream, at Shannon. Plans have nearly been completed for the improvements to the Mangaone Stream. The first of the machinery ordered by the Board is due to arrive in New Zealand aboard the Waiwera any day. It is a large dragline imported from England. The major work of elassification is still exercising the attention of the board. Until all the lands within the very large catchment board district have been. classified, the board has no direct source of finance for its works programme. At the present time works are carried out with finance provided by settlers and interested parties, plus generous subsidies from the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Council. A gang of men is being sent to the Lower Manawatu area r*ext week to begin work in the Makerua Drainage Board area, where the Manawatu Catchment Board has taken over the responsibility for the major streams and drains. While the more spectacular work of the board proceeds on the rivers within its territory, the vital and interesting work of research is continuing on an ever increasing scale. The research station at Te Awa, in the Pohangina County, is being developed to a higher degrde and is a constant source of.interest to visitors in the district. The tree planting scheme was l'auhclied' quite\ successfully this'- year ahd the board is slowly developh&g itsi ofan. niirseries.