THE DRIEST MAY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 200, 19 May 1919, Page 6

THE DRIEST MAY

WELCOME FALL OF RAIN

STILL NEED FOR ECONOMY

The theory was put forward some years ago by a meteorologist that wet and dry seasons were experienced in tenyea'r cycles; that, is to say, that having experienced ten years of full plenty rains, it was to be expected that the following cycle would be , a dry one. Whether this theory is a correct one or not cannot be definitely stated here, but the experience of the rainfall at the Wainui waterworks certainly lends some colour to the conclusion. For example, during May, 1903, 13 inches of rain fell at Waiuui, and ten years later, in May, 1913, 14 inches of rain were recorded in the same locality. From that time to tho present there has been a succession of'dry Aprils and Mays, hence the annual outcry for a supplementary water supply for the City of Wellington. For five or six years .past there has been, at aboyt this time of the year, much discussion about our water supply and the need for a supply. Nearly every Mayor and most councillors have recognised the real necessity for a supplementary supply, but in combination they have never issued instructions for the work to be actually prosecuted, and so Wellington, growing moro rapidly each yenr, and taking in large areas of laud from other boroughs, is in oxactly the same position as it was eight years ago as far as water supply and conservation goes. 'Tho present shortage, due of course to the dry season, only serves to emphasise what has been stated nearly every year about the present time. It will interest the public to know that whilst during the previous ten-year cycle mentioned above the rainfall for May varied from 5 to U inches, the rainfall at Wainui during the present month (up till Saturday morning) was only .15, a Negligible quantity as far as any assistance to the flow of the stream is concerned. ,

' On Friday an officer of the City -Engineer's Department visited Wainui for the special purpose of. measuring the flow of the' stream. He ascertained that the flow for the twenty-four hours was about 8,000,000 gallons, which is the minimum summer inflow. That shows that whilst we are within measurable distance of the middle of winter the quantity of water flowing into the dams at Wainui is only equal to that usually recorded in the driest month of summer. Whilst the inflow is approximately 3,000,000 gallons a day, "the public of Wellington is using 5,100,000 gallons per day,-so that at the present time we are using about 2,000.000 gallons per day from our reserve stock of water in the two dams at Wainui. It was estimated .that there were about 60,000,000 gallons of water in tho two dams on Saturday, so that, taking into consideration the inflow, there was, before yesterday's rainfall, some 28 days' supply of water to be depended upon, assuming that there was no emergency call upon tho water conserved such as would be the case of a_ big firo.cccumng or a break in the main.

The Mayor's appeal for everyone to exercise extreme economy in the iise of water evidently fell upon deaf ears. On Wednesday and Thursday last tho consumption of water totalled 5,100,000, and ou Friday-after tho Mayor's strong appeal— the consumption only dropped by 100,000 gallons, which was very disappointing tp those concerned in the management of tha city's drainage and waterworks. The Corporation have had special men going the rounds during the lost few endeavouring to discover whether hoses are being used on gardens and lawns on tho high levels in contravention of tho City Council's order, and have reported that they havo not been able to iocate any offenders. From to-day a number of inspectors aro to make a house-to-house inspection in the city, examining the tap fittings for leakages, so that thoso occupiers of houses who lmvo fault)' Mings that are responsible for any leakage of water would bo well advised to see to them at onc'o, as the council intend to ask for « heavy penalty in cases where there is found to be want"on waste of wutor from such, causes. Welcome Rain Yesterday. Much to' the gratification of tho city authorities the dry 'spell was broken yesterday by a fall of warm rain, just the quality of raiu that is .likely to do the' parched country most good if wo are fortunate enough to get sufficient of it over a wide area. The ruin commenced to fall in town at, , about 2 a.m. yesterday, and for several hour* fell steadily. Towards noon it tapered off to an occasional misty drizzle, with lowlying mists swathing tho surrounding hills, and continued so for the rest of the day. The indications - aro for a continuance of wet weather. Yesterday's rainfall lessened the anxiety that was being'felt ou behalf of the city's water supply. Up till 9 a.m. yesterday tf fall of .44 of an inoh was recorded at tho waterworks at Wainui, showing tho rain to be fairly heavy where it was needed most. The fall and the lighter drain experienced on the conserved water on the Sunday assisted in raising the level of the water in the Morton dam slightly. # There is etill, however, need for the strictest economy, and citizens aro requested by the Mayor to practice rigid economy in the use of water. HEAVY RAInYtHE NORTH . WELCOME FALL IN AUCKLAND. By Telegraph—Press Association. ■ Auckland, May 18. The drought has broken. The weather has been' threatening for several days past A and a heavy north-east gale blew for about three hours before daylight this morning, accompanied by a thunderstorm and heavy rain.- The fall to 9 a.m. was 2.32 inches. The weather moderated today, but remains threatening. The baro. meter has fallen .70 since Thursday, ami is now 29.70, the lowest for several weeks.

The last fall over one inch was on October 2-1, the highest since being .BSin., recorded at 9 a.m. ou March 15. The total this year is now 8 inches.

Bγ Telearanh—"Press .•Usnr.iat.lnn Whangarei, May 17. The protracted spell of drought in the Whangnrei district has now effectually broken by useful warm rain, which set in last night, and continues. Country renorts indicate that the zone is not yet yer?' extensive, but prospects of general influence are good. HEAVY RAIN AND GALE OFF NEW SOUTH WALES COAST . COLLIER TUGGERAII LOST. (Ree: May 18, 5.5 p.m.) Sydney, May 18. Torrential rain and southerly gales continue. The collier Tuggerah, proceeding from Bulk to .Sydney, foundered during- last night's- gale. Eleven survivors reached CTUnulla after several hours' buffeting in a email boat.—Press Assn.