A BIG DAM

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 274, 15 August 1919, Page 8

A BIG DAM

TO HOLD EIGHT HUNDRED MILLION GALLONS PROBING FOR FOUNDATIONS Statements mado by the Mayor (Mr. if. P. Luke) to a Dominion reporter indicated clearly that (he C'fly Council has [ not altogether forgotten that the city ; has been uncomfortably close to a water j famine for two summer-ends past. Mr. i Luke said that tho city engineer's dc- ; partment had at present a gang of men I working at Wninui on the task of probing fho ground above the Morton Dam to ascertain if there is a suitable bottom for the foundations of a big now dam, which it is proposed shall have a holding capacity of 800,000,000 gallons of water. "Conservation," said the Mayor, "is our first trouble. It has to be remembered tbat for a period of last summer and the summer before iho daily flow of the Wninui Stream was only equal to 30 per cent, of the consumption. The Orongorongo Stream, on the other sido of the hill, has practicallv tho same flow as the Wninui, and if tho necessity niQse, and the new dam 6cheme was not feasible, we could increase our supply 100 per cent, by tapping the' Orongorongo, but the council wished first of all to provide greater storage capacity to provide as soon as possible for dry summers, aud that can only be done by building another and a larger dam above the two present basins. Already two bores have been sunk, aud a satisfactory rock foundation has been found at tho point in the valley where it is proposed lo build 'he dam. A third bore is pretty well down at present. Three other bores havo still to be made More the engineers are satisfied, and they have every reason to believe that the same formation will be encountered.-• "The big provision to be made by the construction of the dam is not only for the safety of the city, but for all boroughs adjacent to the city that are embraced in what might be called the metropolitan area. I personally hope that tuc boroughs mentioned will come into the big water 6ciieine, and so obviate the necessity of spending money on smaller schemes that may not be attachable to the big scheme in the future. We should all look welt ahea.d in this important matter, and there are indications that, sooner or later, the metropolitan, area will be a much larger one than it is at present, and policies affecting the fundamental needs of the people should be shaped accordingly. I think that the Huti; and Petono should come into the scheme as far as the water is concerned, and feel tbat they would be much "better served "by doing so."