"MYSTERY LAKE"

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 292, 4 August 1932, Page 5

"MYSTERY LAKE"

SIGNIFICANT RSAPPEARANCE ARAPUNI, Wednesday. i As the lowering of the water level to below the lin of the spillway at Arapuni stopped the flow over the water-fal! la'd throuq-h the buried forest, engjpeers fcook the onportunity to examine the concrete work and surrounding country. From the base of the spillway to some distance below, and including the waterfall, the whole bed was concreted to prevent further erosion. From to-day's inspection it would appear that these remedial measures have withstood the strain satisfactorjiy. What may either be a peculiar coincidence or a significant connec.tion with the trouble occurred when Acacia Gully was fiooded. The gully is on the Arapuni — Te Awamutu Road, in the vicinitv of Pukeatua, and is some six miles from Arapuni Lake and four miles in a direct line from the spillway. Simultaneously with the appearance of the serious cracks in th'e terrain between the spillway and old river bed in 1930. the gully was fiooded. It was thought at the time that water from the lake came down an old drain and banked up there. A concrete wall was therefore placed there to prevent a similar occurrence. However, when the present seepage was discovered it was found that the gully had again filled, thus disproving the drain theory. The explanation now suggested is that water from the lake has seeped the six miles. What connection tljere is between the flooding of the gully and the trouble at the spillway is a matter of conjecture.