IRRIGATION IN MARLBOROUGH

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 6, 2 October 1920, Page 11

IRRIGATION IN MARLBOROUGH

to" counteract dry summers. (From a Special Correspondent.) • Blenheim, September 28. An event which will doubtless be tho forerunner of extensive irrigation works in Marlborough took place at the Waihopai Rivor on Wednesday, when a- sixmile irrigation channel was handed'over bv the contractor to Mr. H. Y. Monro, at Bankhouse Station Considering the dry summers which prevail in Marlborough, it has been a matter for wonder among visitors 'that advantage has not been' taken, of the splondid rivep which meander down terraced valleys.' The objectlesson afforded by the first irrigation ra-ie in tho province is expected to arouse the'interest of other dieepfarmers and indupe them to lead water from the rivers by similar races. On the area through which the new channel flows, tho sheep, formerly had to travel from half a mile to a mile to the river every day. Now. the artificial stream flows from tho river, along .the. sides of the gradually falling terraces, till at last it emerges on the flats, and flows steadily ' high abov.i and far from the river. For the first portion of the distanco the fall is only Gft. to the mile, later it quickens to Bft., and on the flats the fall is Sftft. to the mile.At the end of its usefulness tho water is shot over the steep face and across a lower flat, back into the river. At the point where it falls, satisfactory power for a. small lighting plant could ,bc eerierated.

The-total cost of this six-mile race was "L£lsofl. .and it serves 4000 acres of other-wise-dry land. It is estimated that the flowing water adds .£3 an acre to . the value of this land, or' ,£12,000 in all. The contractor for the work, who has made similar races in Southland and Canterbury, states that this was the tot holding ground for. water whicli he_ has encountered, and considers the Wairau Valley off era splendid opportunities to add to the value of. the. land by the water which is-going to waste 80 lavishly.