The Waters of Babylon.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 11 December 1914, Page 3

The Waters of Babylon.

GARDEN OF EDEN TO FLOURISH

AGAIN,

The Vali of Bagdad inaugurated the Hindujah barrage recently. The water, being successfully diverted into the old Euphrates channel, has passed by Babylon. ... The completion of the Hindujah barrage is the first step in the great scheme worked out by Sir William Willcocks, the famous English engineer, for restoring fertility to the garden of Eden. The .w«rk has been done for the Turkish Covernment by Sir .John Jackson, Limited, and when the whole scheme is completed Mesopotamia will again become one of the granaries of the world. The total cost, it is estimated, will be about £15,000,000, but as the Turkish Government in 1911 had not the money in hand it was decided to carry out the work piecemeal. By the construction of the new ban-age floods will be avoided in the territory below the dam, and half a million acres of land which had lapsed into desert will be fully irrigated and will become fertile once more. The next step will be the construction of another darn at Lake Habn•nieh, almost opposite Bagdad, and when that is done Mesopotamia will be entirely protected from floods. j Babylon will benefit by the work which has just been completed, as the surplus water will be diverted into the old Babylonian reservoir, and will there be stored for irrigation purposes.