The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10th. 1927. RIVER EROSION.

Hokitika Guardian, 10 February 1927, Page 2

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10th. 1927. RIVER EROSION.

At the Westland County Council meeting this week there was a serious discussion oil the question of river erosion. Two instances have arisen which seem to call for special attention. The one first reported was that- at Ivoiterangi. where the Hokitika river he]ow the Gorge, is again threateimg to attack the flat, thereby imperilling many broad acres of some of the bestland in Westland The menace in the locality referred to is not a new one, as some years ago the position gave cguse for concern, and a few hundred

pounds hail to be spent in river protection work. A large river such as the Hokitika, has always to 1c reckoned with, and it can never be said that the position is secure. At the point of danger the river gains force and volume through emerging I nun a rocky gorge, and on. that account presents rather a special problem. Nature has provided' some relief by the fact that nearby a t-rihutury joins the main stream, and to some extent in Hood time the extra waters from the creek must be something, of a bulfir in assisting to deflect the main body of the river from the river bank. But the main stream is beginning to work in below where the tributary is effective, hence the threatened danger. Engineers will agree probably that it is not possible to state oli-haiid what can be done with any river protection problem. There are many phases to take into account, and this calls for. a study of the actual position in each instance. Xor is it possible to expect the first effort in itself to bo wholly successful. Protection work as a rule has to proceed by degrees, and under such a system a remedy is more likely. The projKisiton. at Koiternngi lias its complications. It will not lie accomplished hurriedly nor cheaply. A considerable expenditure will be entailed, but the valuable land affected will hi; worth it. Some degree of co-operation between the settlers and tin*’ Government will lie expected. The general trend of the rivers to erode suggest that the creation of river boards to assume definite control in those matters will ultimately be essential. The machinery can be provided in that direction, and is necessary so that the rivers will be watched continually and any threatened danger point attended to before the situation becomes acute or likely to grow out of hand. That would he the. most sensible course in regard to both Koiternngi and Kokatalii; for both .settlements are menaced more or less by the large rivers which made the rich flat lands originally. The creation of a District. River Board would, therefore, be a wise step for the settlers to take.

The second instance of river''erosion the County Council had before it, was at Waitangi, in the Wataroa district, where the Loan Block settlement is becoming endangered by the overflow from the Waitangi in flood time. There the situation has been changed a good deal of late bv reason of the erection of the Waitangi traffic bridge and the result of confining the waters, particularly at Hood time. According to the statements of those familiar with local conditions and the physical features of the locality, the fall of the country from the river is over the settlement towards L-qkc Wahnpo. At present the river is a very present menace. Raver bank projection at once suggests itself as was done at- the Big Wanganui, but a large cost would lie involved. The cost- would be too .great for the few settlers involved, and if. as is stated, the bridge has been the main contributory cause of the ultimate damage, a greater liability must fall on the Government. Here, again, the Council decided to seek expert ’advice through the Government, which as a wise course to take. Apart from the theratened danger to the Loan Block, the Waitangi river lias been a menace to the good land lower down the Flat. The Wataroa river, in the same locality, has also been responsible for destroying great tracts of some of the finest land it is possible to conceive. Again crops up the question of river board control. Some comprehensive system for the whole district, if not the Coast, is necessary, if valuable areas of country are to be saved. The question is one which should he gone into very fully for it means a- great deal to the future of the place.