WATER QUEST BY MAYOR AND PARTY

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2415, 22 March 1915, Page 7

WATER QUEST BY MAYOR AND PARTY

TO ORONGORONGO OVER THE • HILLS.

. His Worship the Ms-yor (Mr. J. P. Luke), aocompahied by Councillor A.' ■H. Hindmarsh, Mr. W. H. Morton .'(City 'Engineer), Mr. Morice (assistantjCity Engineer), and Mr. Drummond •(custodian of the! Wainui waterworks) .paid a visit to the Valley of the Orongo- , rongo on Saturday for the purpose of '.viewing the' site of the proposed intake rof" wafer from the Orongorongo River ■to supplement the Wainui supply by i means' of "a : 172-chain tunnel -'through Ithe hill immediately to the' east of the I Morton Dam. The party left town per fmotor-c'ax at '4 p.m.' on Friday, and [were, accommodated " for the ' night at the "custodian's house at Wainui. A i start was made for Orongorongo at 6.45 , ; a.m. on Saturday, the party proceedS'ing by way of George's Greek (which into the Morton Dam), and then up the well-bushed spurs that the two valleys. As this mouni.tain is some 2000 feet high, and covered with heavy bush, going was ■ very rough and tiring, and it was noon before the whole of_ the party reached /the Orongorongo River. It was seen there that the river ran between high Lhariks over a stony bottom in rather [poor and precipitous country. The "liver itself is a fine one, and as the j water would be .tapped almost at the Khead of the valley, the volume of the Istream as far as the settlers down the walley were concerned would not be afifected. The Mayor had the assurance ''of the City Engineer that the' City could tdraw off 5,000,000 gallons of water per |day without making any appreciable reMuction in the flow-volume; as the river |was fed from plenty of streams lower fdown. Owing to the clean, rocky formation of the bed of the river the Equality of tie water is better than that /■of Wainui. - f: The party, after a. Tough scramble, 'got back to Wainui at 6 p.m. on Saturday, and .were back in town before 9 ip.m.. The proposal—so far it is no more than a proposal—is to. build a (tunnel through the hill, doing so much •work each year, the money to come <out of general revenue. Doubtless the policy regarding the future augmentation of our water supply will be definitely laid down by the new City Council.