AWAITI DRAINAGE.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 5036, 6 October 1926, Page 3

AWAITI DRAINAGE.

. Sir, —In your issue of the September 24, with 'reference to an article headed "Drainage Operations,” I wish to point out that the matter brought before Mr Samuel is not the true facts as they exist in the Awa,iti area. There is no doubt that the. drainage operations; in the Awaiti basin, -although not complete, are up to the present satisfactory. The settlers who brought the matter of blocked drains before our member never had and were never intended to have drainage through the Awaiti drain. The contour of the land is wholly against it, and shows that their outlet is the Awaiti Road drain and the H drain —their natural outlets. The settlers in the Awaiti basin have found that the blocking of the drains has proved to be the only satisfactory solution for them, and until these blocks were put in their land was flooded and waterlogged for three months of the year. There is nd possibility of the blocks causing floods, but if the blocks are removed it will not be possible to prevent floods. During a--heavy storm the first part of thi§ district to flood is the Awaiti ’ basin; then the .Waihou rises and backs up the Awaiti Road drain, filling all subsidiary drains and overflowing the banks on to the low land ; thence it pushes its witty up the Awaiti •West drains until it meets the waiter in the Awaiti basin, flows over the highest land there, and then lies dead for three or four months. The settiers on the Awaiti road get clear of their flood-water in three, or four days, but the settlers in the Awaiti basin lhave it the whole winter. Although .-at first sceptical as to their usefulness, the settlers in the Awaiti basin have already proved the blocks a blessing. The blocks were put in by the. atuhority of Mr Taylor, lands ■drainage engineer, and they show that his theory and data were correct, and we appreciate the fact' that it is sol®ly his work. We who have watched the flow of the water when in flood with the feelings of a prisoner waiting for a life sentence cannot understand the motives of these men who

wish to remove the blocks. Is it ignorance of the facts as I have stated ? NO; they know how we have benefited by the blocking of the drains. Then is it, or can it be, utter selfishness ? B. ADAM.