The Manawatu Herald THURSDAY, JULY 29, 1926. FLOOD CONTROL.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3517, 29 July 1926, Page 2

The Manawatu Herald THURSDAY, JULY 29, 1926. FLOOD CONTROL.

PERIODICAL floods in this district are responsible for untold losses, both local and national, which could be avoided if tackled in the right spirit by all concerned. A Royal Commission some years ago brought down alternative schemes whereby the flood waters would be prevented from inundating thousands of acres of fertile land and find a quick outlet to the sea by means of “cuts,” thus obviating the present tortuous course which causes the flood waters,to back up and spill over the low-lying area in the Manawatu basin. The Commission gave an approximate estimate of the cost of two schemes and there the matter rested until the formation of the Manawatu-Oroua River Board. The Board engaged the services of an engineer whose qualifications for such work are second to none in or out of the Dominion. He brought down a comprehensive scheme and assessed the cost at something like half-a-million. The Board’s district has been defined over which it is proposed to strike a sate on a classification basis as security for a loan but a section of the ratepayers concerned have raised'objeetions to a loan and, in fact, have presented a petition to Parliament praying for the abolition of the Board. The Board, in the meantime, is endeavouring to obtain the co-operation of local bodies and settlers to bring before the Government its responsibility to share in the cost of the scheme. That the scheme has its national bearing cannot be denied and a substantial subsidy from the consolidated revenue appears the only means whereby this great work can be consummated. The losses sustained by the Government, local bodies and settlers during the recent flood will approximate at least ten per cent of the initial cost. An extraordinary work of this nature which has a national bearing, should be a State undertaking and the cost equitably distributed.