WAITAKARURU CANAL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4499, 4 December 1922, Page 1

WAITAKARURU CANAL.

AN IMPORTANT CUT. A VISIT TO THE DREDGE. (By Wanderer.) A most important link in the drainage of the western portion of the Hauraki Plains is- the WaitakaruruMaukoro canal, On which a Priestman (floating) dredge is operating. About four miles of the canal is so f;ar completed, the dredge being almost opposite the Rawerawe Road. To visit the dredge one must travel over a mile or two of rough. track. When I made a visit I had to leave my conveyance at the end of the formed road and “double-bank” on a hOrse with a kindly farmer. We had just passed flourishing farms, but now we were looking at soldiers’ sections only recently opened up. We could see now what a hard battle men are having to make their land productive. It is now a mass of tree stumps and roots, and as we went further into the swamp the land looked less attractive. My companion told me that his section (about a mile back) was in just the same state as when he took it over several years ago. It is now one of l the' best on the Plains, and no doubt in ,a year or so these desolate looking holdings will be just as valuable and productive. Our track was over a thick bed of peat about 6ft deep and we could see the ground giving slightly under the weight of the horse’s hoofs. Nearer to where the dredge was working the spoil, recently thrown out as yet had no grass or. weeds on it, and we could see among the marine sub-’soil a lay- , er of shells such as we find on the seashore. This is undoubtedly evidence that the Firth, of Thames once extended over at least that portion of the Hauraki Plains. Within about a quarter of; a mile of the dredge a dam had been constructed so as to float the dredge and facilitate its working. The presence of the dam gives a depth ofl 7ft of water in front of the dredge, which is making a cut 12ft deep and 40f,t wide.

The machine has a bucket, which weighs two tons and which' can carry a ton of earth at each “bite.” It also takes with it logs of wood and deposits the debris into ,a chute which delivers the spoil clear of the bank. The immediate benefits from this work are being derived by the returned soldiers’ sections fronting the canal. The dam was a few weeks ago much lower down the canal, and its removal higher up and the consequent lowering of the water lower down has given the returned soldiers a better outlet for their drainage. Since the removal of the dam to its present position the Lands Department has deepened the drain fronting these sections, and the ,land-hold-ers’ are now able to deepen their own drains to the great advantage of the land, bui it will be a while yet before the soldiers, get any returns from their farms. They have a hard struggle ahead of them. With the advancement of the. work on the canal the lands further soutn. will be drained and made available for settlement. To the west of Ngatea there is a large area which should, before many years have passed, be available for settlement. This canal will, however, have a more farreaching effect than draining this area.. The whole,of the western half

of the Hauraki Plains will .benefit and drain into it. It will also be a great help to the drainage of the southern extremity. It will join the Piako River at Maukoro (near, Tahuna), and will, therefore, let the water from the upper reaches of the river get away more quickly. As a waterway for shipping its value .will be enormous. As much as the Piako River is appreciated by the Plains settlers, the canal will be more so. It will give a direct routs almost to Tahuna.