CATCHMENT BOARD WORK

Chronicle (Levin), 8 July 1949, Page 3

CATCHMENT BOARD WORK

Farmers Told Of Proposals For Shannon Atea Farmers of the Shannon district were given qn insight into the work and projected work of the Manawatu Catchment Board when its chairman, Mr. W. MacKay, and officers addressed a meeting of the Shannon branch of Federated Farmers on Wednesday night. The president of the branch, Mr. H. A. Seifert, welcomed Mr. MacKay and the officers of the board, thanking them for attending the meeting to outline the important work the board was doing in the interests of the farming community. Mr. MacKay expressed pleasure at the opportunity of meeting farmers, as it was essential to have their co-operation and support in carrying out the work. His board covere'd an area of over two million acres with a capital value of over £40,000,000. All this area was controlled from Palmerston ■ North. The objects of the board were to prevent soil erosion and damage by floods and to encourage soil conservation. "We received a smack in the eye when we read today's papers," said Mr. MacKay, "Much of the criticism was unwarranted. However, a young body must face up to criticism, and constructive criticism is in many cases helpful." He then went on to state that the board was formed in 1944, but it was not until 1945 that it had really got going. In the first year t^ie board's only activity was to carry out minor river pro'tection work. The board's expenditure had increased from £10,000 for 1946-47 to £43,000 for 1948-49, and the demand for the board's services was increasing steadily. Mr. MacKay then dealt with reafforestation work being carried out on water-sheds and sand dune country by both the catchment board and the forestation Department, stating that over 130,000 acres of sand dune country was in the board's area. He advised that there was a £1 for £1 subsidy to farmers for the carrying out of this type of work. In concluding, Mr. MacKay said that the progress of the board could be followed in a bulletinissued by the Soil Conservation- and Rivers Control Council, which showed that the Manawatu board had carried out 71 schemes out of a total of 125 done by 12 catchment boards. This showed that Manawatu had done almost half of the work completed by the 12 boards. High bank protectibn ,work. covered six miles, one ch&in, and. low bank work-five ^miles^ 41 chains; ' Fihanciail Aspedfs. . ■ _ Mr. Lii 0". Hdgan, clerk" of the, board, butlined the financial side of the activities, stating 'that the rhte of l/12d on the capital value was the only cost to the ratepayet' and this was for administratiori purposes only. » All works were

finaneed hy the individuals concerned, plus a subsidy from the State. No works rate could be levied until the area had been classified. He coneluded by saying that the lower Manawatu scheme would prove a heavy drain on the board's finances. Engineering Problems. With the aid of maps and diagrams, Mr. P. G. Evans, the engineer, outlined the running of the engineering side of the board. He said there were two points, the works side and the design side. In connection with the former, 10 to 15 large schemes costing be'tween £4000 and £5000 had received assistance by the board. These works had been done in the Manawatu, Buckley and Oroua Drainage Boards' areas. They had been subsidised to some extent by the State, all new work receiving a £1 for £1 subsidy. The 'main works in the Makerua area had been the prevention of erosion. While this work had been successful on the whole, it was not altogether permanent. It was to be hoped that work of a more permanent nature would eventually be done. % On the design side, the major work was the Manawatu River scheme. This had occupied much of the staff's time and the project on paper occupied over 30 pages .of printed matter, together with many plans dealing solely with the flow of the river. The engineer then outlined the research work on the scheme. A* river out of control is not an asset, but a controlled river is, said Mr. Evans, emphasising the necessity of keeping the river as much as possible to its present course. To keep the river under control will take more permanent work in banking, without cutting too much off and drying off the old channels. He believed the Whirokino cut was essential, but It had? brought a chain of.troubles with911 it. It might be necessary to put in overftows, hut where possible to leave the river in its present clianr nels. • Tokomaru Stream Plans. In connection with the Tokomaru Stream scheme, Mr. Evans said that this consisted of two purposes, firstly, bringing the bank levels back to a reasonable height and, secondly, making a single channel down the stream. He said that the banks had sunk over a numb.er of yearo and tlie river level had been raLed. It was now necessary to raise the stophanks

in proportion. A single ,channel would be cut down the centre of the stream and, where necessary, rthe bottom lowered to give a better flow of water. .Willows would be cut out and by lowering the water level it would enafole the flopdgates to functfon at low level, but pumps would still have to be used when the' river was- high. Mr. Evans answered a number of questions in connection with the lower Manawatu- and Tokomaru schemes." Mr. A. F. -Greenall, of the Soil Conservation Council, spoke • at ien'gth on the value of aerial topdressing of hill country, while Mr. ;F. E. Suckling, of the grasslands division, outlined the work being done in connection wtih soil , conservation. He said that 50 acres of hill country had been taken over by his division and research work in connection with the breeding of improved pastures was being carried out. Mr. Suckling also spoke of ' tree planting to stop the run-off of valuable topsoil and the preventtion of slips. He did not favoiir evergreen trees as sheep were inclined' to use these as caniping grounds, with the result that the soil soon disappeared and disease was bred into the ground, causing foot rot. At the conclusion of the addresses, Mr. MacKay introduced Messrs G. L. Ewing, J. D. Ai'tchison, E. W. Low" and S. W. Barber, four members of - the Catchment Board, who were present at the meeting. A vote of thanks to the speakers was moved by llr. R. J. Law and carried by acclamation. Mr. Seifert also expressed thanks to the speakers and visitors Who were present from the Tokomaru and Foxton branches of Federated Farmers, the Buckley and MakeruaDrainage Boards and the Shannon Borough Council.