PHENOMENAL RAIN.

Otaki Mail, 5 March 1923, Page 4

PHENOMENAL RAIN.

lift EFFECT 6 AT MAN UAH AO. •Some idea oi the Uillieuities with . which iiie Government. is faced at Maugahao may be gained from a per- , Ural of the rainfall reeoids. During J 923 tiie rainfall was approximately sij inches. This rainfall was not con- ' fined to any particular season, but was fairly well distributed over the year, and as a matter oi fact there were actually more wet days than there were line days, in acme months there were even as many as ii days on which rain fell. Naturally the staff and workmen are becoming to some extent amphibious, but in spite oi every effort a great many days' work are actually lost through inability to carry on outside operations. it does no: appear that 1923 is going to. be even as favourable as 1922, for already there have been two disastrous floods, the first of which destroyed the whole result of three months' work of a large number of of men in connection with the temporary diversion of the Maugahao River. Tliis flood rose to a height of is feet. There has now been a second flood of the unprecedented height of 20 feet. Fortunately, not much has yet been done to restore the damage of the fsn flood, and consequently not a great deal was lost. While these floods delay the work and may cause disppointmeni as to the date of completion, they have sti;i a favourable side. As in every hydraulic installation, an ample supply o; water is one of the indi-spensables for a successful development, and the flow that has been observed in the .river, and the excessive rainfalls which have been recorded, augur weli for the abundance of future power supply.