HAURAKI DRAINAGE.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5317, 24 August 1928, Page 3

HAURAKI DRAINAGE.

OPERATIONS BY GOVERNMENT.

ANNUAL REPORT TO PARLIAMENT.

Tixe chief Dran>rig,e Engineer., Mn RG>. MacMorran, has prepared the 20th annual report, for the. financial year en;iled Mar.ch 31. 1928, on the Hauraki Plains, land reclamation and general development works carried out by the Government. The report was tabled in the House Oja Wednesday afternoon, and in,eludes the. following :—

“An exceptionally dry summer has bJfcTan important contributing facthe substantial progress made with the, development works. As there was practically no rain for a period of 54 days during January and most of February, the production of the farms was undoubtedly reduced; but returns up to the end of January were in excess, of previous records. It. 1very satisfactory .to find that the dairy factories operating on the Hauraki Plains report that the season’s increase ip da'ry produce will most •likely exceed’the average rate.of increase. for previous years.

“The following fig.urtejs of produce and sto|ck return.s. which have beep prepared ftom a,ll available sources, Nearly .indicate the value of the drainage scheme. Fop purposes, of comparison, the. previous year’s returns are given in parentheses: Butter produeced, 2350 (2300) tons; cheese 1296 (1235) tons ; fibre and' tow, 1200 (1000) tons,; estimated value of stock sold., £59,170 (£45,000);. freights to arid from Piakoj River and Waitakaruru, 11,426 (8000) tons.

“The grrieri fields and comparative abundance of feed op the Plains were in striking contrast to less fortunate districts, where the upusually dry nature of the summer was reflected in parched pastings; and many Hauraki Plains settlers found tha,t the slale. of compressed hay was ;a, lucrative business. The sweetening effect and greater porosity resulting, from the thorough drying of the surfade; sojl .will also prove beneficial. However, th:e, drying of the peat lands produced troublesome peat fires, and the strenuous efforts of flaxmillers and the department’s employees could riot prevent the los.s of a copsKderabfe quantity of growing flax. The annual loss Resulting from the destruction >of valuable flax and. cost of fire-fighting, emphasises the necessity of the necessary statutory authority being fufin’shed for the formation of fire districts in, order to provide protection from fire on Cro,wnl and also privately-own-ed lands on which flax is naturally gr.O|Wn or cultivated. • , “The. development, of the peat land* is orie which offers a b'g field for. investigation.* The shallow peats, especially where there is a fair amount <jf ®ht, are usually fairly easily developed, but the peat swamps about 15ft in. depth and over are full of d*ffieulties when it. comes to the development process ; and it appeals to, me that this particular phase of the question should be investigated: by the Fields Division of the Agriculture Department in conjunction with this department. _ “A general feeling of security''arid independence is indicated amongst the within the reclaimed swamp area by the changes of recent years from Government control to local body control, entail’ng maintenance of ■many of the completed drainage works, roads, bridges, and other requirements of modern rural settlement. For ma.ny years the department exercised 1 all the usual functions of a county council, drainage board, ; and river board in the district. Since 1923, control of approximately 100 miles of roads in thie, settled areas has been handed over, to the Hauraki Plains and Piako, county councils, and negotiations are in train', with the Hauraki Plains County ifojr. the takingover of control of some 16 wharves within the area. The, Horahia Drainage Board was formed in 1925 to undertake the maintenance apd improvement the drain-age system of an area of 13,000 apres, and at abwit the same time the Ells,tow Drainage Board 9 extended its district, with a vifew to co-operating with the department ip the reclamation o>f freehold and Crown land in the Awaiti district. In August, 1927, the Tahuna drainage district was formed to control the. drainage of an area of 10,000 acres forming the .squthern portion of .the Ha.uraki Plains District. The preliminary steps have also been taken for the formation of two more drainage districts — one ip the Netherton district, and ari area °f .13,000 acres on the western side of the- Piako River, including Ngatea, Pipiroa, and portion of the Waitakaruru district. , DREDGES. “Dred'ging continues tos be one of the maijn features of the operations, and during the year the aggregate volume of excavation handled 1 by the dredges was 652,413 cubic yards, chiefly in river improvement and stopbank and crinal construction. The average unit cost was 7.32 d per (übic yard. For various reaisions ajl the dredges have not been continuously •employed, but where condition's favoured rapid construction two shifts have been worked on four, of the dredging plants. The No. 19 Michigan land dredge lias been on loan to thePublic Works Department, and the No. 20 Rood land dredge was laid up for -so.me months. The No. 23 dipper dredge is' idle in, the Upper Elsto.v canal, as .the wo.rk cannot progress until an agreement is completed with the Elstow Drainage Board. z CENTRAL DISTRICT.

“The principal activities in -this district were on ’river; 'improvement works, extending over a distance of :six and a-half miles. The lower Elsto.w Canal, forming the southern boundary o t f the Kerepeehi extension bldofc, was completed in October. The clay won from this ca.nal .will be utilised to complete the stop-banks surrounding the Kerepeehi block, and it is anticipated that as a result of the drainage providied by the canal the banks will be sufficiently consolidated next summer, to support, the permanent embankment.

WAITAKARURU-PIPIROA DISTRICT

“A pronounced advance, has been made with the construction of the

Waitrikapuru-Maukoro Canal The

dredge is now 5 miles 50’ chaiup from the crinal bridge on the Waitakarur.uPipiroa road, and will be turned, at this point to widen and deepen the. canal back tq the new dam at 4 miles. 6 chains. Some 300 toins of coal for the. dred/ge have been carted to this point from Waita.kar.uru, nectessitating the formation of 45 chains of temporary roafl. The Railway canal was deepened and continued for a distance ef 15 chains. Particular, attention has been given; to the drainage of a large area of unoccupied peat land situated to the east of the Wai-takaruru-Maukoro canal, with the object of diverting the drainage from the Piako River and foreshore outlets to the canal. PATETONGA, AWAITI, TAHUNA. “The usual cleaning and maintenan.ee of drains was carried out in these districts, 28 miles, 10 chains of drains being cleaned, and! 40.252 cubic yards of -90'1 excavated hi the, improvement of 15 mil'eis 23 chains of drains,, whilst 2 miles 72 chains of new drain necessitated the. excavation, of 7641 cubic yards of “The. principal construction works were carried out in the. Awaiti district, where the Awaiti canal is undiar construction; also, extensive improvements of the subsidiary drainage system were carried out at Netherton. DRAINAGE, “The total length of rje;w drainage ditches constructed, burning the year, was 5 mileis 69 chains, and the total .length of the drains, constructed in connection with the, Hauraki Hains scheme to date is 608 miles. A summary of the subsidiary drainage construction and maintenance carried gut- during the year is as follows : Drains cleaned, 1'56 miles. 78 chains ; drains widened and deepenlejd, 92,402 cubic yards, 44 miles 65 chains ; new drains constructed by manual labour, 15,090 cubic yards, 5 miles 36 chaiiri ; new drains constructed! by machinery, 7260 cubic yards, 33 chains; drains widened, and deepened by machinery, 6660 cubic yards, 1 mile 33 chains ; stop-bank improvements, 13,960 cubic yards, 4, nr'le-s 4 chains,. SURVEYS. “Engineering rind hydrographic surveys carried out during the year required 7% miles o,f theodolite and 14)4 miles of cqmpass survey and 129% miles of levelling. Much routine Wonk is necessary in connection, with the preparation of plans and quantities for contracts, monthly measurements of quaritites excavated! by dredges, and setting out works. Over 200 crqss-sections of streams and canals were taken, and s'ome Off these at. the mouth of the Piako River are of considerable length, some 385 bor-ings,-’•varying in, depth from 3ft to 28ft, were made for, determining thesubsurface conditions of the swamp. Investigations in connection, with flood control and drainage have also been carried out in adjoining districts. FLAX LEASES. . “Some nine flax leases are in operation. covering a total area of 3,095 acres, on which the annual rental totals £1.377 15s 6d. The actual revenue received fgr the year amounttq £1,140 16s. GRAZING AREAS. “The area leased for grazing purposes under, temporary tenancies 1S 9,422 acres, divided into forty-eight holdings. The annual total £755. and £586 8s Id was collected during the period un[der. review. WORKS EXPENDITURE. “The total expenditure was £17,009 14s Bd.. of Which £27,858 12s 2d was paid from Thames Imprest Account. Day la.bour. amounted"toi £27,814 9s 7d., and fifty-five piecework contracts were completed entailing an expenditure of £5,305 9s Id; The drainage, rate struck for the rating year 1927-28 totalled £7.971 14s 9d., ■for which, 554 rate riotiecs were i?■sued. The surii of £7,071 6s 7d. was collected during the year. FUTURE PROPOSALS. t “The principal work to. be undertaken during the next financial year are as fallows :— “Dredging Piako River and improvement to stop-banks ; continuation, of W.aiitakaruru-Maukoro canal; continuation of flood prevention, drainage works and 'reading in the Awaiti district ; construction of stopbanks on. southern boundary of Kerepeehi block ; construction of Wbakahqro Relief Crinal through' the Tahuna district; metalling main road bettween Kalihere wharf and nof.th end of Puha.nga Canal.”