MANAWATU-OROUA RIVER BOARD.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3521, 7 August 1926, Page 2

MANAWATU-OROUA RIVER BOARD.

The Manawatu-Oroua River Board met at Palmerston on Thursday* there being present: Messrs. W. S. Carter (Chairman) H. and D. Akers, B. G. Gower, N. P. Nielsen, H Wilton and J. Richardson. Messrs F. C. Hay (engineer) and P. E. Baldwin (solicitor) were also

in attendance. Mr. J. Harrison sent

an apology for absence. The board received a deputation comprising Messrs M. A. Eliott, B. Pratt and J. Holden who were concerned about the stop-banks along the Oroua rixer. The breaches in the banks, said Mr. Eliott, created a serious position and the water only had to rise some 18 inches now to Hood all the land again. The settlers themselves had originally constructed the banks which had not been badly damaged for 14 years. He urged the board to ask the Minister for Internal Affairs for power to take steps to guard against the menace to which the country was now subjected. The settlers - would assist in the repair work with teams and money. The settlers there he added, would/not have suffered in (the laist Hood from the Mjanawatu river—the great extent of flooding was due.to the breaking of the banks by the Oroua river. The board could show its practical interest by attending to this matter. Some adjacent drainage boards, said Air. Eliott, might well be asked to share the cost of the repair work.

The board fully realised the extent of the flood damage, said the chairman. He had never seen such flooding as occurred at Moutoa on the present occasion. The drainage boards and adjacent county councils were vitally interested in the damage done and he was glad to see the settlers and local bodies beginning to realise the extent of flood risk. Something had to be done or people would be drowned, but the board was not yet in. a position to act. Had the Afanawatu flooded as the Oroua had done this time, people would surely have been drowned. As it was, extensive flooding had resulted from the Manawatu on this occasion. Alany settlers did not realise what a flood could mean until they were taken out of the windows of their houses in boats. For three years the board had been trying to provide against such a contingency as-the last flood. Air. Eliott suggested that the board seek legal authority to effect repairs to the Oroua banks, and also consult with the other local bodies affected. If it did that, much of the opposition to the board would disappear. The chairman endorsed the idea of a combined deputation from the River Board and adjacent local bodies to the Alinister of Internal Affairs to seek authority to deal with- the menace of the broken stop banks along the Oroua river. The Aloutoa and Koputaroa, too, would have to be dealt with, he observed.

On behalf of the Moutoa Drainage Board Mr. Gower asked the Manawatu-Oruoa River Board for permission to reinstate its banks, else, lie said, it would be “God help those who were back of the breaches.” The various drainage boards, he thought, should repair their own sections, but if there was to be a combined effort doubtless his board would co-operate.

“We ought to do something for the regions affected,” said Mi’. H. Akers, “but we must make sure that whatever we do is in conformity with our ultimate main scheme.” It was decided, after further discussion' in committee, that Mr. Eliott be advised to the effect tha he arrange for a deputation to the Minister, to be representative of the local bodies; the deputation to ask for a relief grant to the settlers the work to be carried out under the board’s supervision. If the deputation were arranged, stated the chairman, the board would send delegates in support.