STEADY RISE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26629, 27 November 1947, Page 4

STEADY RISE

LAKE LEVEL AT WAIPORI USE OF WAITAKI POWER For the past three weeks an additional 15,000-kilowatt bank of transformers has been in use at the Halfway Bush sub-station, with the result that the City Electricity Department has been able to draw liberally on the State system and use power generated at Waitaki. The- result is that the amount. of water stored at Lake Mahinerangi is increasing, and the level is now 74ft 4in. Although a spell of dry weather is at present being experienced, the level of the lake is rising by from half an inch to an inch each day, and should heavy rain fall in the catchment area, as has usually occurred in early December, the rate of increase in the lake level should be speeded up considerably. It is hoped that the lake will reach the 80ft mark by January, which .will give a considerable amount of storage for the generation of power at Waipori when it is most needed. The reading of 74ft 4in is the highest ever taken at Lake Mahinerangi. The water is now 7ft 4in above the level of the old dam, which was 67ft. Since the. beginning of October the lake has risen Bft 2in, a volume of water over the whole lake that represents a huge number of units of electricity. The City Electricity Department is looking to the future and planning to be in a position to make the maximum use of Waipori stations during the critical periods next winter.