IRRIGATION.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10595, 29 March 1912, Page 4

IRRIGATION.

A prompt start is to bo made witli tile Ida Valley irrigation scheme in Central Ota go, as a result .>f winch ;'l;i,000 acres will bo benefited. Cabinet has .authorised the commoncement •-!' work on the storage reservoir which ; a'kS the main feature, the distributing drains not being a. heavy part of the ! scheme. Under the Jaw rotating, to .irrigation schemes of this char a .iter, itJie Government is cm.power.-d to carry out a big betterment policy so as to en mi re that the benefit of public expenditure will not be. inonooolised by private landowners. vWr. more than half the landowners in tbe area, agree to take the water' supply at the price fixed by the State, a scheme may be, carried our, and the State is empowered to pu.vl'Ase land not subject to these agreements at a price whs eh does not anticipate the additional value likely to accrue as a result. of irriglatmn. When t-h-> scheme is completed, the land can be re-sold at the increased price. This course will probably be followed at Ida Valley, a.s the necessary ag/ee- ■ ments with settlers have been ;sig?»ed.