TUNNEL V. DAM

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 11, 8 October 1919, Page 9

TUNNEL V. DAM

NEW WATER SUPPLY AN URGENT MATTER (By "Sylvius.") In the throes of smaller things, tho members of. the City Council 'apparently give little heed to the dominant need of this rapidly-growing city. The reference is to the water, supply. A few months ago I pointed out tlint tho City Council was placing the cart before iho horse in considering the erection of ft largo conservation dam above tho two present dams at Wainui-o-inata rather tnaii push on with, the piercing of the tunnel, which would give Wellington an extra supply from the Orongorbngo stream. Tho Mayor when questioned about the matter contented himself with stating that the dam was recommended by the City Engineer (Mr. W. H. Morton) as the first work to be done in connection with an extended water supply. I contend that ho is not right on three grounds: (1) That conservation of water in a dam does not mean an extra supply, but is the saving of water from the same diminishing source of supply; (2) the danger of building great dams one above tile other, as exompMed in tragic manner in America; and (3) that the' dam would take three or four years to build, whilst the tunnel could lie pierced in eight or nine months if worked from both ends. The Mayor personally believes in the tunnel idea as tho soundest way of warding off a water famine. What tho members of the council think the public do not know, and I doubt if the point has ever been put to them..

. The position to-day make?) the question so vital that the City Council stands the risk of being impeached by the pubVic if the water question is not taken hold of and thoroughly thrashed out. Cable messages state that the greater part of New South Wales :'s experiencing the most severe drought experienced for forty years. That would not mean so very much to us, if it did not synchronise with, the significant fact that here .in Wellington, we have had one of the driest winters on record. Dwellers on the Muritai flat across the harbour state that the springs that are usually full flowing- at this time of the year are showing a very poor ilow, and some of them look like drying up. If such is the case now, what is the position likely to be at the end of February if the summer proves as dry in proportion as the past winter has? The result in a word would mean the most acute shortage the city.has ever suffered—and it has been in a tight place more than once during the last decade through the neglect of the obvious. A point, too, is that February is likely to arrive and find us no further forward than last February, whereas if a start were made with the tunnel right away, it) would be half-way through by then. In support of my statement respecting tho dryness of the. past winter, let me quote the rainfall in Wellington for the three wettest months of the year—July, August, ami September—and compare it with the average for the same months. The figures (kindly supplied, by' the Meteorological Bureau) are as follow ;— 101! l. Average. July 3.05 in. 5.05 in. August 3.'l2in. ■t.ssin. September l.OGin. 4.lf)in. Fortunately tho first week in October has brought its balm in » fairly solid rainfall—l.sl inches up till i) a.m. yesterday, which approximates nearly the total rainfall for September. The figures for the last quarter, however, we. striking, and should have some influence on the city authorities in turning their attention to what may become a very acute crisis at the end of the summer.