DEALING WITH FLOODS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXV, Issue 4717, 27 June 1924, Page 2

DEALING WITH FLOODS.

PROBLEM ON HAURAKI PLAINS. SETTLERS CONFER AT NGATEA. ROYAL COMMISSION ASKED FOR. A meeting that will go down in tne in,lory oi me Huuiuki Putins was ik-iu at Ngatea yesterday, settlers Loin all parts of the district gathering to discuss drainage mutters unit the steps to be taken to prevent a recurrence ol the recent disastrous floods. Mr A- J. Andrews was appointed chairman, and in opening he said that the meeting had been called by the Ngatea branch of the N.Z. Farmers’ union on behalf of the settlers who nau teken up land and who did not intend to be driven oil’ without a struggle. As a basis for discussion the chairman moved; "Tnat this representative meeting of settlers oi the Hauraki Plains are of the tiLanimous opinion that adequate drainage has not been provided for the settled portions of the Hauraki Plains “That the Government be requested to immediately set up a commission to report on the whole drainage system. "That while appreciating the Government’s offer of loans to settlers to repair flood damage, a straight-out grant be given to those settlers who had been flooded as a direct result of neg ! igence on the part of the Lands Drainage Department.’’ Mr J. Bratlie was of the opinion that the first clause was too vague. He m-.ved that the following be substituted : ■ "That this meeting of settlers of the Hauraki Plains, recognising the failure of the drainage work as carried out, are of the opinion : (1) That the Piakc River should be widened, .straightened, and deepened, the spoil to be used to build stop-banks ; (2) the existing stop-banks to be repaired and the gaps and low places completed ; (3) the flood-gates be made larger, and that more be installed — each flood-gate should be at least the size of the drain;” Speaking to his amendment Mr Bratlie said it was generally known that the river required improving and that the stop-hanks were hopelessly out of order. It wa,s the failure of the stop-banks that had caused the recent flooding round Ngatea. He characterised the present style .of flood-gates as ratholes, being much too small to cope with the water behind them. The speaker quoted where drains had been enlarged or other drains brought to the outlet, yet the size of the flood-gates had not been increased. In his opinion the design was wrong in that the doors were too heavy to be readily moved. Many were, also out of order and would not open, or if open could not be made to close. Mr Schultz supported the original motion, contending that farmers were not competent to judge engineering problems. Although u was obvious to them that the drainage was not satisfactory the question of how the end was to be attained should be left to engineers, . Mr Hallyburton Johnstone secondej| the amendment, contending that was required when dealing with the Landa Department was straight talk. On being put to the. meeting the amendment was carried. The motion, as amended, w.as then put and carried unanimously. Mr J. C. Miller, county chairman, stated that the council had taken up the matter and had appointed a committee which had met and passed certain rsoelutions. These had been forwaided to the Lands Department at Amkland with the information that a deputation would wait upon the Minister for Lands in Wellington. The Minister would thus be given an opportunity of investigating the questions before the deputation arrived. Had this not been done the deputation would be informed that the representations would be noted and the matter looked into. The resolutions passed by the committee were as follows ;— “That dredges be put into the Piako River for the purpose of cutting canals through the Te Umutawa Block and through the canal refeerva at Rawer awe. “That the Piako River channel be widened and deepened from the mouth southward. “That the Waikaka canal be widened and deepened. “That the Lands Drainage Department refuse any subsidies to drainage boards operating in the watersheds of the Piako and Waitoa rivers south of Patetonga until adequate provision has been made for the disposal of the excess waters that have been and will be sent down to the lower reaches of the said rivers by the operations of independent drainage boards in those areas. “That all stop-banks be strengthened. and that the spoil for same be depositee at the farthest possible distance from the dredge cuts so as to increase the capacity of the river channel. “That the Piako River be stopbanked from Kerepeehi northward to link up with the stop-banks already constructed. “That a controlled canal be constructed from what is known as the Willow drain, south, of Turua, to the Awaiti stream, immediately south of Kerepeehi.” The following resolutions relating to the Waihou River had also been carried for transmission to the Minister for Public Works :— ‘That the lower reaches of the Waihou River be dredged to deal with the a.cumulation of silt and consequent flooding. ‘That the suggested Waimarie spilway be proceeded with at once. “That all permanent stop-banks and flood-gates be constructed at the earliest passible moment according to the department’s outlined scheme. “That the openings in the stopbanks at Tirohia be attended to. “That the breaks in the temporary stop-banks near the Puke bridge be

repaired at once, this work being most urgent.” Motions endorsing the representations of the County Council, and also.;those of the Thames Chamber of Commerce, were carried. Mr Johnstone said that the Lauds Drainage Department promised many things but did nothing. During the height of the flood one of the responsible officers had gone to Auckland. He was of .the opinion that a resolution should be passed asking the Government to remove the whole of the present staff, and moved that the settlers of the Plains have no confidence in the Lands Drainage Department. Several present spoke of the folly of passing such a resolution, contending that it would only antagonise the Government. Mr Johnstone said he had challenged the Government to hold an inquiry into the drainage of the Plains and had offered to pay the whole. cost if the work was shown to be satisfactory, nut the challenge had not been accepted. Mr Bidwell repeated that the drainage scheme should not be judged as it was not yet completed. Mr Neate contended that the main point had been missed. Not for seventy years had there been such an abnormal rainfall as had been experienced this year. There had been floods all over New Zealand. Mr R. Paul said that he had lived in Ngatea before there were any stopbanks and the land had not been flooded. Mr Johnstone said that the late Lands Drainage Engineer, Mr McMorran, had stated that work should not be done in the upper reaches of the river; otherwise Ngatea would be flooded. Such work was now being done, with the result predicted by Mr McMorran. Mr Davies (Netherton) spoke of the action of the settlers fronting the~ Waihou River when the Public Works Department proposed to take a strip of land for the purpose of erecting large .stop-banks. By their obstriictional methods they had caused the proposal to be abandoned and small stop-banks to be erected. These had given way during the recent flood, with disastrous results. He advised the settlers of the Plains not to antagonise the department, but to ask it to explain its proposals, so that they could be freely discussed before being condemned. Mr Whisker (Awaiti) drew attention to the ponding area above Ngarua In his opinion the Idea was wrong, and was bound to fail, in abnormal times. Mr A. Cleaver said that during the recent flood water had come from the ponding area on to the settled land by way of a creek crossing the Ngarua road on which there was no flood-gate. Mr Davies moved that this meeting views with grave concern the proposal to create a water-impounding area above Ngatea, and requests the drainage engineers to submit their proposals to the Hauraki Plains County Council for its opinion before proceeding with the work. The council, if not satisfied with the merits of the proposal, could refer the matte•• to meetings of settlers. The motion was seconded by Mr Whisker and carried. Discussing the County Council's suggestions, Mr J. C. Miller said that the lower reaches of the Waihou River were capable of dealing with all the water required of it, and that the proposed canal from the Piako River would tap the ponding area and relieve it, but the extra water would not make any difference to the Waihou River. He was sure that this phase of the drainage problem had not been investigated. Mr Whisker spoke in opposition to the suggested canal, contending that it would be better and cheaper to concentrate on improving the Piako River and the Waitakaruru-Maukoro canal. Mr Bratlie said he had been informed by the captain of one o£ the steamers trading in the river that a great deal of the trouble was caused by the shoaling at the river mouth. There was a great depth of water at Pipiroa at low tide but very little water 'on the bar outside. He had also been informed that there was a bank in the river between Ngatea and Kerepeehi over which there was only ten feet of water at high tide. Mr J. C. Miller said that during the recent flood there was a difference of ten feet or so between high and low tide at the Pipiroa wharf, yet there was hardly as many inches at Ngatea. Mr J. Darlington moved that the Lands Drainage Engineer be asked to explain, through the Press, the reason for the difference between the tidal effect at Pipiroa and Ngatea during the flood. Seconded by Mr J. Bratlie and carried. Mr W. E. G. Willy asked how it was proposed to find the money to do the work suggested. The Hauraki Plains Act did not permit of any more money being expended in the lower reaches of the river, as the land had been sold. The money would have to come from the Consolidated Fund. Mr Paul said that the settlers had been put on the land and led to believe that the drainage facilities would be maintained. Instead of that they were becoming worse. Mr Andrews said that the question had been put to Mr H. Poland, M.P., and he had said that he would do his utmost to get the Government to vote, the money required. Mr Willy said that as it was obvious the Government had not completed its job, and that the settlers were asking for more money to be spent, the Government should amend the Hauraki Plains Act to permit money to be drawn from the Consolidated Fund for the purpose. It was not generally known that up to the present the Government had not spent one penny on the Hauraki Plains. The money had been loaned and had been refunded when the land was sold. It was obvious that more land could not be sold to pay for the work asked for. He moved that the Government asked to vote money from the ConsoH-y dated Fund to complete the draniage of the Hauraki Plains. Seconded by Mr J. Darlington hh<f J carried unanimously,